Through The Looking Glass
by xoxomtmodnarxoxo
Summary: Society turns against Sonic the Hedgehog, resulting in Sonic becoming their worst nightmare; causing chaos across Mobius. Will Sonic ever recover, and will he still be there for his loved ones in the end?
1. Accident

**Hey guys! Here's an idea that came into my mind whilst I was listening to the song 'Nobody's Listening' by Linkin Park.**

**Enjoy!**

**A/N: Sonic and co. belong to Sega.**

**~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**

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><p>"You've done it!", Knuckles screamed, "You've fucking done it!"<p>

Sonic stared at the giant LCD screen with disbelief. He snapped his eyes shut, and reluctantly re-opened them. He was wasting his time. Right in front of him, on the screen, was an obvious mushroom cloud that lurked in the skies on the giant screen in an intimidating manner. It would only be a matter of time before a number of megatons would instantly wipe out the small town that had originally been targeted by Dr. Eggman.

And it was all Sonic's fault.

Sonic felt tears of guilt form in his eyes as Dr. Eggman cackled from behind, his body structure beaten to a pulp. He spat out a small piece of a broken tooth, and slowly turned to Sonic, the frames on his glasses gleaming with triumph.

"I must say!", Dr. Eggman commented, "I never knew you had it in you, Hedgehog! I'm very, _very_ impressed-"

"Shut up!", Sonic screamed as he spun around to face Dr. Eggman, "Shut the fuck _up_! It was a fucking _accident_!"

"I always had a suspicion that deep down you had a split personality, but now that you've shown your true potential…", Dr. Eggman chuckled, "All I can say is it was worth waiting for you to finally tick!"

"How _dare_ you!", Sonic snarled at the doctor, "You lied to me! You told me that _that_ button", Sonic pointed angrily at an amber-coloured button on the huge panel, "was the main control that would activate the missiles to take off and detonate! And you also told me that _this_ button", Sonic pointed to the average-sized button he had pressed prior to the explosion, "Would deactivate the missiles and shut down the system! What the _fuck_, man?"

"I thought you would have guessed by now, you stupid dunce", Dr. Eggman laughed, "I have a rather terrible habit of telling lies… Honestly, don't you ever learn?"

Sonic glared at Dr. Eggman, breathing heavily through his mouth, sweat standing out on his forehead. He hated to admit it, but Dr. Eggman was _right_; the doctor lied his head off every single time he attacked Mobius as to make the attack even more complicated for Sonic and his friends. Normally it was Knuckles who made an ass of himself by believing Dr. Eggman's lies and was easily manipulated by them, but it was different this time around. This time, Sonic was the stupid, _stupid_ idiot. Yet, could he really help it? With all his friends and the doctor himself screaming at him simultaneously, telling him which button to press, whilst Sonic watched the digital countdown on the LCD screen, indicating how much time he had remaining to contemplate which button to press in order to save the small town…? Normally if something like this happened, Sonic would shrug and say, "What done is done", but he knew at that moment of time it certainly wasn't an option.

"But I didn't", Sonic spluttered, "I would never…"

"Way to go, jackass!", Knuckles snapped and angrily shoved Sonic from behind. Sonic stumbled forward due to the force of the shove and spun around to face the echidna, and then the others. Tails stood, rubbing his forehead with one hand, his eyes closed. Amy stared at the LCD screen, nibbling her lip anxiously.

"Guys?", Sonic croaked, "You know that it was an accident, right…?"

They all suddenly stared at him with disbelief. Sonic then raised his eyelids at them.

"What… you don't actually think I did this on _purpose_, do you?", he cried.

"Is that a trick question?", Knuckles shouted, "_You _pushed the fucking button, not us! You _did_!"

"But you saw", Sonic protested and then peered at the others, "You all fucking saw! Dr. Eggman tricked me!"

"But Sonic", Tails chipped in, suddenly angry, "We _did_ try to tell you what button to push! You just didn't listen to us! For some… _insane_ reason, you decided to activate the missiles and destroy the town!

"Tails!", Sonic argued, "It was an accident!"

"Oh, yeah?", Knuckles shouted in Sonic's face, "Try telling that to the hundreds of Mobians who are probably already dead as we speak! Try telling that to those who have lost their loved ones!"

"I d-didn't", Sonic stammered, "I-I couldn't have…"

"But you did", Knuckles snapped, "You fucking did. We all saw it, didn't we, guys? We saw it all, and it's all _your_ fucking fault! Mobians have died, and it's all your fault! Now get out of the way", Knuckles leaned forward so that he was practically nose-to-nose with Sonic, "Get the _fuck_ out of our way, you psychopath!"

Sonic stared at Knuckles, realising Knuckles was being very serious. He hesitated and gradually stepped aside, allowing the echidna to stomp past him and make his way towards the exit, too angry to even argue with Sonic. From behind, Tails let out a sigh and began to follow Knuckles. He didn't want to spend another minute beside Sonic. Although Sonic was his best friend, the idea of a friend whom he truly trusted killing so many Mobians - a complete comparison to his characterisation - well… it was too fucked up for words. The best course of action at that moment of time was to leave the room, knowing that whatever he would say would fill him with regret in the near future. Tails turned around and peered at Sonic with disappointment, and slowly sloped away with Knuckles. Sonic stared at Tails with disbelief, and slowly turned to Amy as she watched the LCD screen. She nibbled her lip as she watched the small town on the screen immediately crumble, megatons forcing their way through each building, creating destruction along the way. Amy stared at the screens with horror as she witnessed hundreds of Mobians attempting to flee their homes, only to be caught up by the force of the megatons; bodies were flung into the broken remains of what used to be houses, the intense heat melting the skin of each Mobian within it's path. Although the sound was muted, Amy could only imagine how painful the destruction of the megatons must have been by studying the pained facial expressions of Mobians as the heat waves scorched their bodies.

"Amy?", Sonic whispered. Amy ignored him. Sonic tried once more.

"Amy?", he croaked, "Amy… speak to me…"

There was a brief pause. Amy was the first to break the silence.

"That's just it", she whispered, "I don't know what to say… tell me what to say, Sonic…"

"Amy, you _know _that what happened was an accident!", he protested, "You know I would nev-"

"An _accident_?", Amy exclaimed angrily, "You call killing hundreds of Mobians an _accident_?", she inhaled slightly, "Well, how _dare_ you!"

"Look, I'm sorry-"

"_Sorry_?", Amy repeated with disbelief, "Sorry doesn't even fucking cover it! It's not as simple as that! What… are you going to apologise to those Mobians who are probably dead from the blast? I've got a cousin who lives there, so are you just going to go up to her corpse and say, 'Hey! Guess what! I'm sorry'? No… what you've done, it's just…", Amy struggled and exhaled slowly, "… No"

"So…", Sonic paused, "You don't even believe me when I say that what I did was an accident?"

Amy scoffed.

"Is that a trick question?", Amy demanded sarcastically. Amy then sighed, and turned her back on Sonic, and began to walk away from him.

"Amy", Sonic called out, "Just stop"

"You're a monster, Sonic Hedgehog", she whispered loud enough for him to hear, "We _told _you what button to press, and if you just _listened _to us, then all of this could have been avoided… but… you…", Amy hesitated before stating, "Just stay the Hell away from me…"

And before Sonic could convince her otherwise to stay with him, she was gone. Sonic was stunned. Of all Mobians, he had expected Amy to stay with him, or at the very least agree with him that what he had done was an accident. The detonation _was _an accident; it _had _to be. Besides, with only a limited amount of time before the detonation to take place along with the Doctor demanding what button he should press on side and his friends ordering Sonic to press a different button, surely the pressure would cause him to make a mistake? _Everybody _made mistakes once in a while. So why was everybody treating Sonic like a disease, stating that what he had done was the worst mistake of his life?

Sonic turned to the LCD screen and witnessed the devastation due to his drastic actions. He stared at the screen until the images before him turned into tiny individual pixels. He heard a chuckle escape from the doctor.

"Isn't it ironic?", Dr. Eggman commented, "The hero becomes the worst villain imaginable!"

"Oh, get to _fuck_, four-eyes!", Sonic shouted, "I don't fucking _need _your opinion!"

"I don't care how you feel", Dr. Eggman spat, "All I know is everybody is against you, and that your life and glory is officially over! That's all I find amusing out of this entire situation. You're more fucked up than I imagined!"

"My friends will always be there for me!", Sonic snarled at the doctor.

"Considering their responses earlier, I'm not entirely convinced"

"Oh, I don't need this!", Sonic snapped, "Just leave me _alone_! I don't need this!"

Without warning, Sonic instantly ran out of Dr. Eggman's base, tears spilling out of his eyes as he raced across the land towards Station Square. Hundreds of Mobians had died, and it was all Sonic's fault. He should have been more cautious whilst pondering over his options as to what button he should have pressed. Unfortunately it _had _to be the wrong button; the wrong option.

So… Mobians were dead, and it was because Sonic had activated missiles in order to destroy the town. However… he _had _chosen the wrong button to press due to extreme pressure… surely that didn't make him a _murderer_… did it? Sonic shook his head fiercely as his feet rapidly hit the ground, however his heart began to beat rapidly. No, it didn't make him a murderer. It didn't. It _couldn't_ have. Yet… he felt so guilty, and _alone_…

"No", Sonic muttered to himself, "I'm not alone. I still have my friends. Sure, they're pissed off with me; that's okay, but they'll still be there for me. They _have_ to be! In time they'll forgive me. They won't betray me. They _won't_"


	2. Guilty

**Hey guys! Here's chapter 2! Enjoy!**

**~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**

**A/N: Every supporting character (except Sonic and Amy who belong to Sega) in this chapter are OCs and belong to me.**

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><p>"As you can see from the results of the debris from the extensive use of Chromatography", the forensic analyst explained as they clicked onto a new powerpoint slide through their laptop; their presentation displayed through a projector for the courtroom to view, "Our team of forensic investigators have come to a conclusion that the tiny particles of fabric retrieved from the detonation button from the main control panel in Dr. Eggman's base had originally come from Hedgehog's gloves"<p>

Sonic stared at the presentation with disbelief. Although extensive scientific investigation had provided evidence against Sonic's pleas of innocence, Sonic's lawyer, a male rabbit, cleared his throat and sat back in his chair.

"Don't worry", the lawyer whispered to Sonic, who's hands began to tremble with fear, "We'll find a way out somehow"

"I doubt it", Sonic hissed, "I seriously doubt it. Did you _see _those fucking results?"

"Remember, it's your word against theirs", his lawyer pointed out, "You're perspective of what had happened is just as useful as what their evidence is"

"At this rate", Sonic whispered, "Who w-would you believe? Me… or them?"

"Mr. Hedgehog", Judge Boyne, a male cat, suddenly boomed in the courtroom, "Is there something you would like to share with us?"

"Sorry?", Sonic asked.

"You were having a private conversation with your attorney", the Judge explained, "Would you care to share your private conversation with the rest of the court? Bearing in mind that anything you say may be used as extensive evidence within the investigation"

"No, your Honour", Sonic replied, "Sorry"

Judge Boyne sighed.

"It's a bit late for an apology", the Judge muttered to himself as he skimmed through a few documents in front of him. A brief silence followed within the courtroom.

"We will take a brief intermission whilst the Jury reaches a decision", Judge Boyne announced loudly and at that point the majority of the courtroom began to depart from their seats, including the Jury, Sonic's lawyer and the Judge. Sonic fought the urge to vomit with fear. This was it. He was going to be convicted of murdering hundreds of Mobians in what used to be an idyllic town, which had turned into a destroyed heap within a matter if minutes. And it was all his fault. Indeed, Sonic had attempted to plead innocence within the trial, however due to the calculations from the Chromatography as well as the three eye-witnesses (no thanks to Knuckles, Tails, and Amy) who had shared with the courtroom _their _perspective of what had happened… Sonic didn't have a chance in Hell in convincing the Jury that he was _not_ a murderer. He _wasn't. _

_If I was a murderer_, Sonic thought to himself, _Wouldn't I feel the urge to kill somebody, or something along those lines? I feel awful for what I had done; not once did I actually fantasize about killing innocent Mobians! So, that doesn't really make me a murderer… does it?_

He glanced around the courtroom, and caught sight of Amy sitting rows behind him, sitting upright in a smart suit with her arms partially crossed, one clenched hand raised to her mouth as she anxiously nibbled at the edge of her gloved thumb. Sonic dared to give her a tiny wave, intending it to be a friendly gesture. Amy stared straight past him, as though Sonic were invisible. Sonic gave up and turned around to his original position. He stared into space for a while until he heard footsteps approach him. His lawyer had returned and sat down beside him.

"Am…", Sonic cleared his throat nervously, "Am I going to be okay?"

An awful silence followed.

"What's done is done", his lawyer replied. Sonic stared at his lawyer and then sat back in his original position, feeling the tears form in his eyes. He knew deep down that whatever the Jury had decided was _not _good.

"This is it, isn't it?", Sonic croaked, "This is the end of me"

"Hey, whoa!", the lawyer chipped in, "Don't take my word for it, Sonic! I don't know exactly what's going to happen to you, but all I'm going to say is that you're going to have to _really _impress the judge and the Jury if you want to get out of here alive. As far as I know, things don't look good"

"Fuck", Sonic whispered to himself.

"Still, try and keep a positive attitude!", his lawyer continued, "After all, things always get worse before they get better"

"Mm", was Sonic's reply. Sonic knew that his lawyer was only telling him that because he was paid to support and defend the blue hedgehog. Sonic knew deep down his lawyer didn't give a crap about him. He glanced at the small number of Mobians returning to the courtroom from their break, along with the Jury and the Judge following close behind.

"All rise for Judge Boyne", one security guard announced to the room. Everyone stood up with respect, and then sat back down when instructed. Sonic stared at the Judge as he sat down and looked towards the Jury.

"Has the Jury reached a decision?", Judge Boyne demanded. One Mobian, a female echidna, within the row rose from her seat.

"Yes, your Honour", she replied, and then continued, "We find the defendant, Sonic Hedgehog, guilty of murder"

Sonic closed his eyes slowly. In his opinion, his life was over. His lawyer patted his shoulder as a comforting gesture. Sonic didn't care. Instead, he found himself running his fingers through his quills with anxiety, wondering what on Mobius he was going to do next.

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><p>"Although you have been found guilty by the Jury, we have made the decision <em>not<em> to give you a prison sentence", Judge Boyne informed Sonic in the small conference room shortly after the trial. Sonic felt immensely relieved, however he felt intrigued at the same time. If the court had decided as not to send him to prison, what other course of action did they have in mind…?

"Mr. Hedgehog", Judge Boyne continued, "We have always been very grateful for the outstanding work that you have done to protect Mobius from the notorious work of Dr. Eggman"

Sonic breathed out slightly. He began to feel hopeful.

"However, we cannot ignore the fact that more than three hundred Mobians had been killed by the nuclear blast, simply due to the fact that you had made a mistake in choosing which button to press as to attempt to deactivate the missiles. In a case such as this, Mobians would automatically label you as a murder, regardless of the circumstances, and I would understand their reasoning"

"I understand, your Honour", Sonic whispered, his throat dry with fear.

"Making a decision whilst under pressure is never easy, Mr. Hedgehog, and we sympathise", the Judge continued, "Which is why we have come to the decision to provide you with a new identity and a new location in which to begin a new life"

"_What_?", Sonic exclaimed, "But… surely that's not _necessary_?"

"If I were any other kind of Judge, I would have sentenced you to a lifetime sentence in prison, effective immediately", Judge Boyne explained, "But we had chosen an alternative considering your previous commitment to Mobius prior to the recent nuclear explosion"

"But…", Sonic paused, unable to take the news in all at once, "Where am I going to live? What about things such as I.D. and bank accounts and shit like that? What about my friends and loved ones?"

"You will be assigned to a social worker whom will ensure you will be provided with everything in order to begin a new life", Boyne continued, "Under strict regulations under your licence, you are not allowed to visit Station Square in the centre of Mobius, or anywhere within the surrounding areas. You are prohibited from revealing your identity. You are prohibited from creating new accounts, whether it be bank accounts or anything similar without consulting your social worker. You are prohibited from attempting to save Mobius from Dr. Eggman's attacks until further notice. You are prohibited from running around Mobius. You will be placed under a restraining order in which you will be prohibited from approaching the following Mobian; Amy Rose-"

"Amy?", Sonic whispered with disbelief, "But… but I didn't do anything to her! How _dare_ you tell me whom I'm allowed and not allowed to talk to-"

"On the contrary, Mr. Hedgehog", the Judge chipped in, "It was Miss Rose's decision to place a restraining order on you. Should you be found violating your restraining order, or any of the regulations in regards to your licence, you will be sent to prison and you will be given a life sentence"

Sonic closed his eyes slowly. He couldn't believe it; what seemed like an idyllic solution was going to be a living Hell for him.

"This fucking sucks", Sonic muttered to himself.

"Mr. Hedgehog?", Judge Boyne piped up, "I just gave you a lucky break… don't push your luck"

"Mm", Sonic answered, not wanting to admit openly that Judge Boyne was right.

"I believe that this trial is over", the Judge announced and nodded at the security guards, "If you could please escort Mr. Hedgehog from the premises safely, thank you"

"Let's go, blue boy", one security guard ordered to Sonic. Sonic nodded slightly and stood up and followed the security guard out of the conference room. He ransacked through his memories of what Judge Boyne had told him about his licence. So… he wasn't allowed to run, tell people who he was, manage his own accounts, save Mobius, talk to Amy… Sonic felt as though a belt had tightened around his chest, preventing air from entering his lungs. Although he had found Amy annoying most of the time, it felt awful that he was banned from even speaking to her let alone approach her. As the security guard escorted him towards the main exit from the back of the building, Sonic glanced to his right for a split second… and looked back again. There stood Amy with her arms crossed tightly, nibbling her bottom lip. When she realised Sonic was looking at her, she mouthed as tears spilled down her cheeks, _I'm sorry_…

Sonic turned his head away sadly. That was just it; even though it was _Amy_ who put the restraining order on him, Sonic felt as though he couldn't forgive _her_. Sonic didn't look back at Amy. As far as things were concerned, his new life began right there and then. And he intended to stick to his new rules.

The security guard opened the exit doors and coaxed the blue hedgehog out into the open. When Sonic stepped out, he groaned to find a group of protestors outside waiting for him. The minute they saw him, they began to scream abuse directly at him; demanding to know who the fuck he thought he was, and how disgusted they felt that somebody they used to admire could turn out so fucking evil, and was he not aware that he was a sadistic bastard who deserved to be punished for murdering so many Mobians…?

The security guard pushed the crowds out of the way as to help Sonic approach the police car near the exit, which awaited him in order to drive Sonic away from the madness that stood right in front of him.

Sonic peered at each and every protestor, their presence becoming a distant blur, their voices becoming inaudible. For one split second, Sonic pondered over whether or not he was going to faint, however he snapped back into reality when one female hedgehog with long dreadlocks suddenly threw a bucketful of red liquid at him. Sonic reeled back and glared at the red substance covering him.

_Blood_..?, he pondered as he rubbed at the liquid with his fingers.

"This blood represents the blood oozing from the victims of the nuclear explosion, you sick _bastard_!", the female protestor screamed, "I hope you fucking _rot _in Hell, you fucking moron!"

"Hey!", the security guard shouted, "Get away from him!"

"No, I fucking won't!", the protestor shouted, "I lost my grandparents because of him! I want to fucking _kill _this guy!"

"_Stop_ it!", Sonic suddenly screamed, "Get away from me! Get _away_ from me! Leave me the fuck _alone_! It wasn't my fault! It was an _accident_!"

"I'm sick of you, turning everything you've done wrong into an 'accident'!", the protestor shouted. Others from behind applauded her from her comment and began to hurl abuse at Sonic once more. Sonic was filled with disbelief. It seemed so unreal to him the fact that a few months ago, everybody treated him like a hero, and now… now they simply recoiled at the _sight_ of him. Sonic suddenly felt his face redden with anger.

"I'm fucking sick of you, too, you stuck-up bitch!", he screamed back, "All you do is whinge and complain because your life sucks. Well guess what? _Life_ isn't fair! Now do me a favour and get out of my way", Sonic took a deep breath, "I said get the _fuck_ out of my way!"

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><p>Amy watched from afar as Sonic heckled the young hedgehog. The love she had once felt towards Sonic had gradually disappeared since the incident. Now, all she could feel towards Sonic was hatred… but also <em>sympathy<em> at the same time. Regardless, Sonic had to learn the hard way for what he had done to her. She had to be tough, _brave _even. For her dead cousin.

_Oh, Sonic_, she thought miserably before departing from the premises in the opposite direction, not wanting to witness any more of Sonic's struggle against the protestors. As far as Amy was concerned, Sonic was on his own… and that she _certainly_ wasn't going to get involved. Not anymore.


	3. Lonely Day

**Hey guys! Here's chapter 3!**

**~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**

**A/N: The cashier and the police officer are OCs and belong to me.**

***The name 'Ted' is a reference to the serial killer Ted Bundy.**

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><p>Sonic peered around the main living room of the small apartment, his nose wrinkled with disgust. The process of being given a new identification and re-location was almost complete, and Sonic was not at all satisfied. Indeed, he understood that he was still the most hated Mobian on the planet, but was it really necessary for him to be placed in a tiny apartment within the heart of a run-down city where, he assumed, the most dangerous of all Mobians lurked; each individual street crawling with drug addicts, rapists, gangsters and God-knows-what-else? Was it a sign that this was a sad trick in which the Judge had assumed that the only way in which Sonic would learn from his mistakes was by placing him amongst real-life criminals? Surely that would only encourage him rather than prevent him from committing any more 'crimes'? And the apartment… Simply by looking at the damp in the furthest corners of the walls, the gritty floorboards, and the greasy kitchen, Sonic had come to the conclusion that Judge Boyne and his team thought very little of him whilst re-locating him in regards to the conditions of the apartment.<p>

"Okay", his social worker, Tikal, announced behind him, "Your apartment is all set. We've paid for your first rent, so there's no need to worry about that for a whole month. The rent's $190, so I strongly suggest you start looking for a job", Tikal paused for breath, "Anyway, I trust you find the apartment sufficient?"

"Cramped, isn't it?", Sonic asked. Hey, his opinion mattered, too.

"What were you expecting?", Tikal snorted, "A mansion?"

"Mm", was Sonic's reply. Tikal cleared her throat and produced a small brown envelope.

"Anyway", she continued, "Inside this envelope is details for your new identification"

Sonic took it from the female echidna, opened it, peered at it, and smirked.

"What's so funny?", Tikal demanded.

"My new _name_", Sonic chuckled, "It's a bit… dorky, don't you think?"

"It is what the court has decided", Tikal, "Not me"

"I know, but come on", Sonic remarked, "_Ted_?"*

"Yeah, it's a bit extraordinary, but it wasn't my decision, mind", Tikal commented, "Sorry; you're stuck with it"

"Can't I _change _it?", Sonic asked desperately. Honestly; if he were still at home his old friends would have laughed at his new name until their sides hurt!

"Nope, I'm afraid not", she replied, "We've provided you with new identity documents along with a new passport which has your new name printed on it. If you want, you can contact Judge Boyne about it, but I doubt you'll get very far"

"… Oh", Sonic muttered. Tikal nodded slightly and collected her handbag.

"Well, I'm off", she announced, "If you need anything, just contact me. Oh, and don't forget; you're under surveillance. Anywhere you go, we follow you and watch you. Just remember, you're not off the hook yet. We've got to make sure you actually _stick_ to your new regulations", Tikal glanced at Sonic knowingly, raising her eyelids. Sonic couldn't help but blush, knowing that he was the type of Mobian who wouldn't be able to sit still for even two minutes.

"Okay, well…", Sonic paused, "Thanks for everything"

"No problem", Tikal answered as she made her way towards the front door of the apartment, "Take care of yourself… Ted"

Sonic scoffed, knowing that he would never give in to indoctrination; knowing deep down he would always _be_ Sonic the Hedgehog; _the _Sonic the Hedgehog, who was fearless, positive, and loved life.

However, as Tikal left the apartment, Sonic couldn't help but feel _lonely_. He had no one to talk to, nothing interesting to do, and his feelings were… impassive. He stared out of the windows once again, and grimaced. His new location was an area in which he would mostly avoid venturing through if he had the chance. This _had _to be a joke! Surely he deserved better, despite everything? There weren't even any _trees _for him to climb up and relax on, for God's sake!

Sonic gradually pulled himself away from the window and fell backwards onto his sofa, exhaling loudly. So this was it. This was where his saga, his moment of glory, was coming to an end. He was no longer a hero. He was the villain. Living a life in which his freedom was restricted to a great extent. So… what was he meant to _do_ to pass the time?

Sonic normally went for a run or travelled across the planet, but now he was being watched. Sonic glanced around his apartment. There was a television; not the biggest television he had ever seen but it was sufficient. The idea of spending the majority of his days watching endless television was depressing, but at least it was something to do. Sonic sighed and sat back, reaching for the television remote.

"Day One", he muttered as the television came to life.

* * *

><p>Only the television became <em>boring<em> after watching it for four long hours. Sonic's legs began to twitch; he was _desperate_ to go out for a run! But he had to find alternative solutions. Sonic sat back and pondered over his options.

He could… search online for a job.

Or… he could… get around to changing his appearance; Tikal and Judge Boyne had both recommended this as to make his appearance less obvious to the public. He _was_ Sonic the Hedgehog, after all; _everyone _knew who he was.

Or… he could… read a book.

Sonic grimaced. Okay, he wasn't _that_ desperate! But he had to get out of his apartment or he would go crazy. There was a small convenience store down the street that sold dyes for quills; surely it wouldn't hurt to wander down to the store and buy some quill dye? After all, if he had a new identity, Sonic decided he may as well contribute towards changing his image.

The idea appealed to him.

Sonic bolted out of his sofa, pulled on a dark t-shirt, jeans, shoes, and scraped his quills back into a beanie hat. He decided that if anyone questioned him, he would abandon them immediately as not to get caught.

_Fuck the regulations_, he decided, _I deserve a bit of freedom!_

He eagerly left his apartment, sped down the staircase, and all of a sudden… he was _outside_. Sonic paused, awaiting any police officers to appear in front of him, awaiting to be lectured about his new lifestyle. Nobody was around. No police officers; no one significant, apart from a few Mobians walking up and down the streets, living their everyday lives. Sonic began to relax. Perhaps this was going to be easier than he assumed. He began to wander down the street towards the store, lowering his head so that his face was hidden from the public. Not that they cared, anyway; they were so caught up in their lives to notice him. Sonic breathed out, finding tears forming in his eyes. Normally he preferred his own company, but to actually _know_ that he was all alone had a sudden impact on him. He suddenly felt anxious being in the company of strangers who didn't know or care about him…

A siren suddenly wailed behind him. Sonic screeched to a halt, closing his eyes. No. It couldn't be…

"Going somewhere, Blue boy?", a voice asked from behind him. Sonic breathed out and slowly turned round to face a police officer in a police cruiser. The police officer raised his eyelids knowingly at Sonic and beckoned him over to the vehicle where the side window was open. Sonic sighed, approached the vehicle, and held his hands up in mock-defence.

"Don't shoot, officer", he joked.

"I will unless you tell me where you're going, Hedgehog"

"Jesus", Sonic cursed under his breath and then raised his voice, "I'm just going to the store over there, okay?"

"What for?", the officer asked.

"To buy some stuff!", Sonic snapped and added under his breath, "Jeez… I've never known such a nosey dipshit-"

"What was that?", the officer demanded.

"Nothing!", Sonic snapped. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Nothing"

"It'd better be nothing", the officer replied, "Just remember; we've got our eye on you, Hedgehog. And don't try any funny stuff, either"

"I won't", Sonic reassured him, "I promise"

"Then get _going_", the officer concluded and gestured at the store. Sonic sighed. Honestly; there was no pleasing others.

He entered the store and marched towards the cosmetics aisle. Sonic stared helplessly at the variety of dye packets in front of him. He was _never _the kind of Mobian who cared about their appearance; he was simply content with how he looked. Sonic had always been bewildered over the idea of why Mobians would want to dye their quills or fur or whatever to begin with. After all, God made you and your personality; all you had to do was accept it. But now that he was forced to change his appearance…

Sonic dithered helplessly over the different dyes, and eventually decided to purchase a bottle of black quill dye to match his mood, and eventually chose a set of fake contact lenses for his own benefit. As he approached the cashier, he noticed the male rabbit behind the register watching the news on a small portable television. Sonic shook his head at the cashier's ignorance and placed the objects on the counter. He glanced at the television, in which a news feature about _him_ suddenly appeared on the screen. Sonic kept his head bent and his mouth shut whilst he searched for his wallet.

"It's scandalous, isn't it?", the cashier suddenly asked, "Who knew he had it in him to be so notorious?"

That was where Sonic unbuttoned his lips.

"Maybe he didn't mean to do it", he answered back, contrasting his tone by making it deeper, "Maybe it was accident"

The cashier looked at him suspiciously.

"Accident my ass!", the cashier snorted, "If you ask me, he deserved what he got"

"I didn't _ask_ for your opinion!", Sonic snapped although he felt a flicker of panic, "And what happened to him?"

"Well, my cousin says there's rumours going about that Sonic had been executed via the electric chair, but he's been on the dope recently, so he's not really reliable when it comes to news like that", the cashier informed him, smirking, "But _I _think he's been given a new identity"

"W-what makes you say that?", Sonic asked, sweat forming on his forehead, although his head remained bent.

"It's so obvious, man", the cashier told him, "He's been to court, but after he's been charged, he suddenly disappears?", the cashier snorted, "If he was here right now, I'd smash his fucking face in right now-"

"Thanks anyway, man", Sonic replied handing over the money, his hands shaking. Oh God, it felt awful knowing exactly what people thought of him, and how they spoke about him right in front of his face without realising who he was. How dare they judge him simply by referring to the news! The News teams didn't know _anything_ about Sonic; they _always _lied when it came to current affairs. But… it hurt Sonic at the same time. It felt terrible knowing that those who worshipped him as a hero were now treating him like the Black Plague…

Sonic sniffed, tears forming in his eyes; tears of despair and anger. Being isolated from the planet was one thing, but for vicious rumours to spread around insinuating that he was dead was another thing entirely. Did Mobians really hate him that much as to spread such rumours? Hell, they were giving the impression that Dr. Eggman was a _saint_ compared to himself…

_I've had enough_, Sonic thought angrily, _Fuck them, fuck the lot of them!_

"Are you okay, man?", the cashier suddenly asked. Sonic jumped slightly and nodded determinedly.

"Yeah, totally cool, man", he muttered and grabbed his purchases and marched quickly towards the exit.

"You forgot your change, dude", the cashier called to him.

"Keep it", Sonic snapped. He stormed outside and noticed that the police cruiser remained in the same spot. The police officer chuckled.

"Good boy", the officer mocked, "Now get moving to your new apartment, and _stay_ there. I'll make sure you get there safely"

Sonic nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat. He looked longingly into the horizon, contemplating the idea of ditching the police officer and racing full-speed ahead towards his _real_ home where his friends were…

"Don't even think about it, pal", the officer warned him. Sonic sighed and began to walk back to his apartment. He loathed the feeling of the police officer watching his every move, but he had to _prove _that he was taking his punishment seriously.

It was a tremendous relief when Sonic eventually got into his apartment. He was safe. For the time being. However, the memories of the conversation in the store angered him. He couldn't believe the attitudes Mobians had towards him, and the fact that they didn't even _know_ him, personally, made it even worse. They gave the impression that he was as sickening as a murderer, or a kidnapper, or a rapist. They no longer wanted him around. Nobody respected him. They chose to hate him, for he was a criminal.

"Okay", he said out loud, "Fine! They want a criminal? They'll _get_ a criminal!"

Sonic stopped abruptly, wrong-footed. That was just it though. He didn't know _how_ to be a criminal. He was the type of Mobian who would automatically put litter into garbage cans if he passed any on the street. He couldn't become a criminal _just _like that; it was a complex task. He would have to change his personality entirely, and that would take a long time to do so, especially if he was being watched.

Sonic breathed out, and folded his arms. He glanced around the apartment and noticed his purchases that remained in his hands. Sonic shrugged. Ah well, at least it was something to do.

_Maybe it'll be therapeutic_, Sonic decided and made his way to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>Okay, so that was the dye in place. Sonic stared at himself in the mirror with disbelief. He couldn't believe it had come to this; that he would have to change who he was. He felt like an impostor, not to mention ugly. He had given his quills a clumsy trim before inserting the dye, leaving his quills looking messy and uneven. Sonic hoped that the dye would make his quills look better and neater, but they looked worse than ever; Sonic didn't know how much dye was too much and just lathered a handful onto his head, leaving thick black dye to stretch from his forehead to the rest of his quills. Sonic looked like a child who had been caught messing around with their mother's make-up.<p>

He swore to himself and sloped into the living room. He knew that Amy would have been the perfect Mobian to style his quills for him, but obviously that wasn't an option. And yet… Sonic _missed _Amy, despite of everything. Although he found her annoying the majority of the time, he would give anything to talk to her.

Unless… no… he _couldn't_.

He could.

Sonic pulled out his new cell phone and dialled a number onto the screen. True, he would be violating the restraining order if Amy _knew _who he was, but if he withheld the number then surely she wouldn't know. Amy _wouldn't_ know who would be calling her, anyway, for it was a new number. And perhaps… perhaps Amy would be please to hear from him. After all, she adored him. Well, she did. But now…?

There was only one way to find out.

Sonic pressed the 'call' button and waited for an answer on the other end.

_Ring-Ring… Ring-Ring…_

"Come on", he whispered, "Answer the phone"

"Hello?", a voice asked on the other end. Sonic's heart skipped a beat, a smile forming on his face. God, he was desperate to talk to her. But he couldn't…

"Hello?", Amy asked again in a cheerful voice. Sonic's smile vanished. From the tone of her voice, Amy gave the impression that nothing had ever happened between them, that she was _happy_. Sonic didn't want her to be happy. He wanted her to miss him and to feel guilty for turning against him. All Sonic had to say was, 'Hi Amy, It's me, Sonic…', but it was too difficult for him. He couldn't do this.

Sonic hurriedly ended the call and angrily threw his cell phone to the furthest corner of the living room. It was too much for him to handle. Amy no longer cared that he was no longer in her life. Well, if that was how things were, then so be it. Sonic didn't care. He didn't need _her_.

He collapsed onto his sofa, surprised over how exhausted he suddenly was. Sonic knew he had to wash the dye out within fifteen minutes, so it wouldn't hurt to close his eyes for a minute…

* * *

><p>He sat upright, sweat forming on his forehead. The shock of waking up in a strange apartment had taken it's toll on him, the adrenaline soaring through his bloodstream. When the realisation hit him, Sonic smirked sheepishly and sat back. He casually peeked at the clock, only to realise he had been asleep for over an hour.<p>

"Shit, shit, _shit_!", he exclaimed and raced to the bathroom, fearing his quills would have fallen out due to the dye. He hurriedly turned on the taps in the sink and desperately ran his fingers through his quills, washing the extensive dye out. He felt satisfied at the sight of a great amount of black dye spilling out within the mixture of water. Once the dye had washed out, Sonic breathed out, satisfied and raised his head to look at himself in the mirror.

He stared back, horrified.

Something had went wrong whilst he had inserted the dye into his quills, for they had an adverse reaction with the colour of his quills. Instead of black quills, Sonic stared, open-mouthed at the sight of his blue forehead which slowly developed into a mixture of green, untidy quills. Sonic reached out with one hand to touch the mirror and one hand gently touched a section of his quills, only to realise that his reflection was, indeed, himself. This was reality. Yes, the quills were a shock, but there was something about the appearance of the green quills that appealed to him…

Sonic then reached out for his new contact lenses and inserted them in. When he opened his eyes properly and stared at himself in the mirror, he took in the emerald green quills, his new light-blue pupils, and the dried black smudges on his face from the dye.

Sonic looked… intimidating, horrifying, _terrifying_. He no longer looked like himself. He didn't look like the hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. He looked like a _real_ criminal.

And what really surprised Sonic was that he _liked_ what he saw staring back at him..


	4. Being A Scourge

**Hey guys! Here's chapter 4! Enjoy!**

**~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**

**A/N: Sleuth Dawg, Drago Wolf, Scourge, and Flying Frog belong to Archie Comics.**

*** 'United Stories' is a parody of **

* * *

><p>The sound came unexpectedly. Sonic's eyesight lifted to the front door as he bit into his piece of toast. Yet despite how hungry he was, Sonic began to feel nauseous, if not, curious over his visitor. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong; he had spent the majority of his weekend indoors watching DVDs and eating junk food, not socialising with anyone. Sonic's neighbours had never bothered introducing themselves since he arrived, so he knew that the possibility of neighbours greeting him was very unlikely. Without a doubt it would be the cops, or someone from the social services. So… what had he <em>done<em>?

"Ted!", someone shouted on the other side of the door, "It's me, Tikal! Open up!"

Sonic grimaced at the pronunciation of his new name and unlocked the front door for Tikal. She bustled in with two large carrier bags, looking relieved as she placed them onto the floor.

"Hey, there", she said, "Here, I've got you some-", she stopped abruptly when she looked at Sonic properly and paled at his appearance, "Good God", she whispered, "What have you _done_?"

"Do you like it?", he asked as he ran his fingers through his green quills, "It's the new me"

"It's very…", Tikal paused as she stared at him, "_Bright_… and a bit messy, if you don't mind me saying so"

Sonic chuckled.

"Granted", he commented, "It's not exactly Vidal What's-it's-name, but at least I don't _look_ like me anymore"

"You can say that again", Tikal snorted, "Couldn't you have gone for a natural colour?"

"Well", Sonic smirked, "That _was_ the plan, but everything backfired, and… yeah"

Sonic's eyes focussed on the carrier bags.

"What's in there?", he asked curiously. Tikal looked at the bags and suddenly remembered.

"Oh yeah", she replied, "These are donations from the social services. I thought you'd might want to spruce up your wardrobe a bit"

"Ugh", Sonic pulled a face as he pulled out a red t-shirt, "_Hand-me-downs_?"

"I'd rather think of them as second-hand clothing", Tikal remarked, "and _charitable_. It's the thought that counts, after all"

"Mm"

"Anyway, this is not a check-up", Tikal reassured him, "I'm just dropping by with these whilst I'm on my way to work. Speaking of work, have you found a job yet?"

"Not yet", Sonic replied, "Keep in mind I've only been in hiding for a few days"

"Mm", Tikal answered as she made her way towards the front door, "Well, you'll need to find a job soon so that you can pay the rent. Remember that we won't provide you with financial support for much longer"

"I know"

"For just now, find something to _do_ in your spare time", Tikal advised him as she inspected her hair in a mirror in the hallway near the front door, "It's a fact that many people go stir-crazy after being in their apartment for a couple of weeks, so entertain yourself somehow"

"Like doing what?", Sonic asked, "I can't go for a run, so all I can do is sit and watch TV"

"I don't know", Tikal answered and shrugged, "Artistic things, maybe? Sketching? Reading? Writing? There's a site called 'United Stories'* if you're interested?"

"Spare me", Sonic answered, "I can never see myself as a writer"

"Suit yourself"

"What _else _can I do if I can't go out, then?"

"Oh, you can still go out", Tikal reminded him, "Just don't make it obvious who you really are, and try not to attract too much attention to yourself. Blend in with the crowd, like"

"Oh… right"

Tikal sighed and smiled at him.

"Deep down you have a sweet nature, Sonic", she told him softly and immediately closed her eyes and shook her head at her mistake, "Ted. Whatever. Anyway, my point is that you should use that sweet nature to make a better life for yourself, okay?"

"But you know what I did was an accident, right?", Sonic suddenly demanded, "You know I'm innocent… right?"

Tikal sighed.

"Just… don't", she whispered, "I don't know what to believe"

"But-"

"Leave it", Tikal answered sharply and produced a small card, "Here's the number for your assigned psychologist. Give him a call when you need advice"

"What?", Sonic asked and took the card from her, "Oh, so now I'm crazy as well as guilty?"

"I'm not saying you're crazy!", Tikal protested, "He's just there whenever you need to talk to somebody"

"Whatever", Sonic scoffed and tossed the small card onto a nearby coffee table. Tikal shook her head and sighed.

"Well, I'm off", she announced, "I'll be back for a check-up in two weeks"

"Mm", Sonic answered and didn't bother to escort Tikal out of his apartment. Instead, he stood and stared at the small card consisting of his psychologist's number. The idea that Tikal felt that Sonic needed to see a professional was almost too insulting for him to handle; he wasn't _crazy_! However, the fact that he had been found guilty and had been forced to change his identity was enough for him to lose his mind entirely. But suppose Sonic _did _phone his psychologist; would his psychologist believe him if Sonic claimed he was innocent, or would his psychologist judge Sonic by studying the outline of his case and thus not believe a word Sonic told him, only making assumptions that Sonic was, indeed, a crazy lunatic trying to influence his psychologist to change his views through persuasion and wild accusations…?

And then what would happen to Sonic?

Sonic closed his eyes and breathed in slowly. Yeah, he could see it all now: rubber room for Sonic The Hedgehog. Medication for Sonic The Hedgehog. Electric Shock treatment for Sonic The Hedgehog. He could just _see_ himself wrapped tightly in a straight jacket and locked in a cell, his only contact with the outside world consisting of his doctor visiting every day to drug him…

"_Stop_ it!", he hissed to himself and opened his eyes quickly. He glanced around his apartment, looking for something that would distract his thoughts. Sonic sighed and looked at the carrier bag filled with the second-hand clothes. True, he wasn't a bit like Amy, who would become ecstatic over the idea of being offered more clothing for her wardrobe, but it was something to do. Sonic knelt down and rummaged in the bag, only to tip the contents out of the bag with frustration. Clothes spilled on the floor around him. Sonic grimaced as he examined each piece of clothing, taking into account of how the clothes weren't his style at all. However, he quickly changed his mind when he pulled out a black leather jacket from underneath the pile. The leather was cracked and some of the stitching had come undone, but the jacket still looked good. Sonic smirked as he studied the jacket.

"This just might…", he whispered to himself and then stood up and put the jacket on. Sonic peered at himself in the mirror, a relaxed expression on his face. Staring back at him was a blue hedgehog with messy green dyed quills and blue eyes wearing an old leather jacket. For one split second, Sonic caught sight of his reflection and could have sworn he saw his reflection smirking back at him knowingly. That was just it; in reality he wasn't smirking. Sonic frowned, closed his eyes, and re-opened them. He stared at his reflection once more. His facial expression in the mirror matched his own. Sonic smirked and shook his head.

"Oh my God", he muttered, "I'm really losing it"

* * *

><p>"Amy, are you okay?"<p>

Amy jumped slightly, and found Cream looking at her anxiously from across the table. The two best friends had gone shopping to take their minds off of recent events, however Amy felt that it was only a matter of time before they would actually have to discuss the predicament they were in. The seventeen-year-old hedgehog stared at her innocent friend.

"Amy?", Cream repeated, awaiting her reply. Amy breathed in and out slowly.

"I'm _fine_", Amy reassured her, "Just fine"

"Okay", Cream replied, "It's just that… you don't look fine"

"I'm _fine_, Cream", Amy snapped, "Just ignore me. I've got… I've got my time of the month, okay?"

Amy felt satisfied with her excuse until Cream frowned slightly.

"Erm, okay…", Cream answered and then frowned once more, "What do you mean by-"

"It's nothing, Cream!", Amy snapped, forgetting that although the young rabbit in front of her was only eleven years old, she remained rather innocent to the World that was constantly changing in front of her. It was obviously a waste of time attempting to explain basic Biology to Cream if she were to act this way. Amy decided to leave Vanilla to deal with Cream's curiosity.

"It's nothing, nothing, nothing", Amy muttered madly and suddenly found herself digging her fingers into the skin of her left arm. The painful sensation overwhelmed her, soothed her to an extent. She began to move her fingers up and down her arm, scratching the skin slowly. Amy breathed out slowly.

"It's nothing", Amy repeated once more. Cream raised her eyelids at the sight.

"It must be something, something, something if you're like this", Cream pointed out, "Look, you've got eczema appearing on your arm, Amy. That usually happens when you're really stressed"

"I'm not stressed!", Amy exclaimed with a false laugh, "Stop _worrying_ about me, Cream!"

Amy stared at her left arm. Red blotches appeared on her skin where her fingers had scratched mercilessly. She attempted to distract herself by using her fingers to grip her orange soda nearby.

"Amy?", Cream asked once more with concern, "Come on, Amy, we've never kept secrets from one another before. What are you thinking about?"

"Well, it's just that…", Amy shook her head madly, "No, it's fucking stupid"

Cream twitched at Amy's swearing. However, she didn't allow herself to become distracted to a great extent.

"What's… stupid?", she interrogated. Amy opened her mouth slightly, and then quickly closed it, shaking her head. Cream stared at Amy. Amy sighed impatiently and sat back in her chair, her fingers creating dents on the soda can.

"You'll think I'm out of my mind"

"Try me", Cream encouraged her.

"Well…", Amy inhaled and exhaled slowly before she continued, "… I've been thinking-"

"Mm?", Cream murmured as she sipped out of her own soda can.

"About… Sonic", Amy confided to her friend. Cream paused and stared at Amy. A silence followed closely behind. Amy was the first to break it.

"It's just that", she continued, "Now, don't get me wrong, I hate his guts for what he had done to my cousin, but…"

"You miss him", Cream replied calmly. Amy stared at her, taking time to detect any hidden sarcasm. Cream watched her, awaiting a reply. Realising her friend was being deadly serious, Amy relaxed.

"… Yeah", Amy whispered. Cream sighed, put down her soda and reached across the table with both hands, taking hold of Amy's hands and caressed them.

"You poor thing", Cream soothed, "Look… I understand"

Amy continued to stare at Cream, and found tears forming in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. She clung onto Cream's hands desperately.

"Oh, my God", she whimpered, her face crumpling, "Thank you"

"Hey", Cream told her softly, "Listen; I know it's hard for you since you've been following Sonic's footsteps nearly all your life, and now that he's no longer here-"

"Don't talk as if he's _dead_!", Amy snapped angrily, "He's still here! He's just… not _here_, you know?"

"All I'm saying is that it's perfectly natural to miss him", Cream advised Amy, "I mean, we used to be a team, and now…"

"It's as though there's half of me that hates him for what he's done", Amy attempted to explain, "And there's another half of me that… that still loves him"

"Yeah", Cream replied, and reached for her soda once more. She sipped cautiously and then swallowed, "There's a part of me, too, that misses Sonic so much. Like the way he used to laugh, and how he had the ability to make people smile again"

"His gorgeous eyes and his charming nature", Amy sniffled, "and how he used to be so loyal to his friends and others-", she stopped abruptly when a sudden image of the haunting mushroom cloud appeared in her mind. Cream noticed Amy's facial expression and squeezed Amy's hand with her free hand.

"Yes, he was wonderful", Cream continued, "Probably still is. But the problem is, he's now considered a murderer, and we've all got to deal with it"

"I know", Amy agreed.

"And it was _your_ decision to place the restraining order on him", Cream told her softly, "So… you must deal with the consequences"

"Yeah", Amy answered, "But, maybe I can convince the court to change their minds. I mean, I got this anonymous phone call a few nights ago, and I thought it was…"

"Yeah", Cream replied, "But if you do that and try to get in contact with him, then you're proving to yourself that you're too easily won over. That you're too kind and understanding. I know it's hard, hon, but you need to be strong for your friends and your cousin as well as yourself. If you want to show Sonic that you are serious about the restraining order, you need to be tough and get over him, Amy"

"Well", Amy struggled, feeling irritated by Cream's response, "What do you suggest I do?"

"Why don't you take night classes?", Cream suggested, "Go to the gym? You know, to keep yourself busy? Mama is looking for an assistant to help her with bake sales at schools, maybe you'd like to help her?"

The seventeen-year-old hedgehog sighed. The truth was hard, but Amy had to accept it. She sat back in her chair.

"You know", Amy confided, "You're right. I need to distract myself, reach out to new places, meet new people, yeah?"

"Who knows", Cream giggled, "You might meet a tall, handsome stranger along the way!"

"Yeah", Amy sighed, "Thanks for helping me, Cream. You know, you're the only friend I could actually talk to about Sonic. I tried to talk to Tails and Knuckles about him, but it was just _impossible_-"

"Anytime, Amy", Cream smiled, "If you feel that nobody understands you about Sonic, you can always talk to me. But for now, let's enjoy our day out. Take our minds off of things. Forget him, Amy, just forget about him"

* * *

><p>He needed fresh air. The nightlife was calling his name as Sonic threw on his leather jacket. He felt marginally better towards his new image ever since he found matching black and green shoes lurking in one of the many cardboard boxes that consisted of his belongings, along with an old pair of shades in which he barely looked at before until then. Once he had shoved everything on, Sonic hesitated and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He tilted his head slightly at his appearance; sure, he looked out-of-place, but at least he didn't look like his old self. That was what mattered the most. He smirked with satisfaction, and eagerly left his apartment.<p>

And then stopped. He groaned at the idea of being stopped and interrogated by the police officer. An idea hit him. Sonic focussed on the spiralling staircase, and raced down the steps at a tremendous speed. Adrenaline rushed through his system as he sped down the stairs, kicked open the main door of the building, and ran into the main streets. Sonic laughed as the cool air raked through his hacked quills. He wasn't afraid of being caught; he was running so fast that he doubted anybody could witness who he actually was. He was a free spirit once again, enjoying and appreciating life, loving the feeling of the cold air against his skin…

And then the obvious hit him. Tikal's words ran through his mind.

… _don't make it obvious who you really are, and try not to attract too much attention to yourself…_

Sonic kicked himself mentally. He knew he was at risk of being seen. Even though Sonic knew he was faster than the speed of sound, he could admit that at the worst of times he was capable of messing up royally. He swallowed nervously. What _if_ somebody saw him? What _if_ somebody recognised who he was? Then he'd be for it. Sonic shook his head, and screeched to his right into an alley. He forced his legs to stop running abruptly, and leaned against a wall. Sonic closed his eyes, a swimming sensation overwhelm his head. For a split second, Sonic was almost convinced that he was drunk with adrenaline. He chuckled at the sensation, running his fingers through his quills. It felt strange, but _good_ at the same time. Yeah, this was just what he needed. A night out. Sonic breathed out and glanced to the streets outside the alleyway. He noticed a lone bar, and focussed on it. The bar itself was not as significant as the others, but for to Sonic it stood out. Curiosity overwhelmed him as he emerged from the alley and crossed the road to the bar. He couldn't help but notice a few Mobians smirking at him as he barged past them to get in. Sonic tried to ignore them, but he began to feel self-conscious.

"God, what is _with_ that guy?", he heard a male Mobian shout within the crowds, "He looks like a reject from one of those Clown colleges!"

That was it. Sonic felt his lips unbutton.

"Up yours, you cunt!", he shouted back. He didn't expect the Mobian, a brown and black lynx, who had heckled him to barge through the crowds and appear behind him, an irritated look on his face. He squared up to Sonic in an intimidating manner.

"Hey", the lynx demanded, "What did you just call me?"

Sonic suddenly didn't care what Tikal had told him. He couldn't let somebody talk to him in such a way. He glared back at the lynx through his shades.

"I said", he stated slowly, "Up. Yours. You. Cunt"

The lynx smirked. His friends behind him - a frog wearing brown clothing, a large, brown dog and a white wolf both in denim - laughed at Sonic's response and mocked him by making 'ooooh!' sounds. Sonic felt his fists clench with anger.

"You, know", the lynx commented, "Ya need to learn some manners and show some respect, boy, otherwise you won't survive in this city"

"Like I'd ever respect you", Sonic snorted, "You're nothing but pathetic scum"

"Ooh!", the brown dog commented, "Check out this guy! Who does he think he is?"

"Smooth move, green bean", the wolf remarked and folded his arms, "You won't like Lightning when he's mad"

"Oh, what's he gonna do?", Sonic demanded, "Attack me? Per-lease!"

"Don't bite off more than you can chew, man", Lightning remarked as he cracked his knuckles.

"Bring it on, then", Sonic snarled, "Unless you're too chicken to take me on!"

"As if!", Lightning snapped and lunged forward, swinging his right fist towards Sonic's face. Sonic automatically grabbed his fist, twisted Lightning's arm and quickly shoved him into the wall next to the entrance of the bar. Mobians surrounding them exclaimed at the sudden action taking place. Lightning cried out angrily and attempted to wrestle out of Sonic's grasp. Sonic kept his grip on Lightning as he used one hand to grab Lightning's head and smacked it viciously against the wall. Lightning growled as he felt warm blood escape from the graze on his head. He lunged and punched Sonic on the stomach, winding him. Sonic wheezed at the impact, and clenched his fist to punch Lightning's smug face only to be pulled away from him by the dog and the wolf. Sonic wriggled desperately from their grasp.

"Get _off_ of me!", he shouted.

"You might be able to take _one _of us on", the wolf informed him, "But you forgot about the rest of us"

They threw him onto the hard pavement, deliberately banging Sonic's head on purpose against the concrete. Sonic growled at the painful sensation overwhelming his head and glared at the Mobians surrounding him. The dog smirked, cracking his knuckles.

"You know, Drago, Flying Frog?", he addressed the wolf and the frog, "I don't think this motherfucker understands the word 'respect', I think we need to remind him, what d'you say?"

"With pleasure", Flying Frog smirked. The three Mobians lunged towards him, only to come into contact with the ground instead of Sonic himself. Sonic breathed out slowly, grateful that he had the ability to escape their attack at the very last minute by using his speed. He smirked at the sight as Drago, the dog, and Flying Frog swore and scrambled from the heap on the ground. Flying Frog peered at Sonic.

"How the hell did you _do_ that?", he enquired. Sonic smirked and peered at Flying Frog through his shades.

"Talent", he answered, "Natural talent"

"Jesus Christ", Drago commented, "You're just as fast as that Sonic guy"

"Yeah?", Sonic answered, beginning to panic although he remained calm on the outside. Oh, God. What if they were able to recognise him through his disguise? Things were going great so far, despite the fight, and he knew that if he let out any more information about himself without thinking, his cover would be blown. Sonic buttoned his lips and anticipated the worst to happen. He knew by looking at them that the thugs weren't complete idiots…

Thankfully the Mobians didn't add two and two together.

"That was impressive, man", Drago commented, "Ain't that right, Sleuth?"

The dog nodded.

"Totally", Sleuth agreed, "Totally"

Sonic smirked at the sudden respect he was receiving from Sleuth, Drago, and Flying Frog. He glanced at Lightning who was glaring at him. Sonic felt faint. He had forgotten about him.

"Stop sucking _up_ to him and kick his ass!", Lightning screeched behind them, covering his graze with one hand. Before Sonic could react, a siren could be heard. Sonic looked in the direction where the siren was coming from and paled. A police cruiser came into view.

"_Shit_!", Sonic shouted, "It's the cops! _Run_!"

Sleuth, Flying Frog, and Drago responded immediately by fleeing the scene. Sonic followed closely behind.

"Hey!", Lightning shouted, "I'm not finished with you, asshole! Get back here!"

"We can settle this later", Sonic shouted, "But for now, run!"

"Nobody tells _me_ what to do!", Lightning shouted back.

"Oh, for God's _sake_!", Sonic shouted. True, he hated Lightning, but for some odd reason he couldn't leave him behind. Besides, he wanted to finish their fight; he couldn't let Lightning get away _that_ easily. Sonic screeched to a halt, ran back at full speed and grabbed Lightning and pulled him away from the streets. He sped past Sleuth, Drago, and Flying Frog. He kept his grip on Lightning.

"Run into the next alley way!", he shouted at the Mobians, and screeched into the closest alley way to demonstrate. They followed closely behind. When they had all arrived into the alley way, they hid in the darkness until the sound of the sirens eventually died down. Flying Frog was the first to break the silence by exhaling loudly. The rest of the gang laughed at his reaction.

"Thanks for helping us out, man", Sleuth told Sonic.

"Yeah, one more run-in with the cops and we would have been busted for real", Drago commented. Flying Frog nodded. Lightning ignored them. Sonic shrugged casually.

"It was no problem, man", Sonic replied.

"Whatever", Lightning muttered.

"Hey, we don't even know what your name is, dude", Drago reminded Sonic, "What is it?"

Sonic stared at each Mobian slowly, his heart beating rapidly. He couldn't believe it. He had had a close encounter with dangerous Mobians, nearly had his true identity revealed, and very nearly got caught by the cops. It had been a terrifying yet somewhat exciting experience. And not only that, he had somehow gained respect from the thugs with the exception of Lightning. Sonic smirked to himself. He felt like a new kid in a school; where he knew he could be whoever he wanted to be, no questions asked. He thought about his new name 'Ted'. Sonic shuddered at the idea of telling them his new name. He knew he would be laughed at, without a doubt. He didn't want to jeopardise his new reputation.

He ransacked through various possible ideas for names in his head, until he thought of one that stood out the most. He smirked at the name. It was intimidating, and suited his new personality. It was _perfect_.

"The name's Scourge", Sonic announced, folding his arms triumphantly.


	5. One Of The Gang

**Hi everybody! Oh, my God. I must apologise for the long delay; I've been so busy with work and having to study for a re-sit that I haven't had the time - or the energy - recently to write, so I thought to myself tonight, "Get it done! NOW!". And you know that awful moment in your life where you suffer from the worst case of writer's block? Yep, that pretty much sums up what it's been like for the past couple of weeks LOL! So, I'm so so SO sorry that I haven't updated recently and I promise that I WILL try to update as much as possible from now on :)**

**And I would like to thank Harleythehedgehog and Ghostkid33 for pointing out that the rating of the fic should be changed to an 'M' - it was actually quite funny, I actually didn't notice until they pointed it out to me, and I thought, "Oh, my God! If I'm not careful I'm going to get kicked out of the site for not giving this story an appropriate rating, and I might destroy the fragile minds of young readers!". So, the rating has now changed to an 'M', and a big, big, BIG thank you to Harleythehedgehog and Ghostkid33! :D**

**So, that's my small lecture for now, and on with the new chapter! Enjoy!**

**~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**

*** 'Snot' is the nickname that Scourge is given in 'Sonic Universe' #29 - it's actually quite a good story/saga so read it when you get the chance (and I personally think Scourge looks better with shorter quills lol! X3)**

**** Fiona Fox, and Rosey 'The Rascal' (Although Rosey's name is not actually mentioned in this chapter) belong to Archie Comics. Dr. Lois Brown is an OC and belongs to me.**

* * *

><p>"Scourge, eh?", Sleuth asked with interest, "Awesome name"<p>

"Yeah, it's better than 'Drago'", Drago commented as he leaned against the brick wall and produced a packet of cigarettes, "That's for sure"

The Mobians surrounding Drago automatically helped themselves to his cigarettes, except Sonic and Lightning, who shot deadly looks at the hedgehog. Sonic wasn't a smoker, and had no intention to become one, either. Whenever he was questioned about his views on smoking back home, Sonic would argue that he hated the smell, the dangers related to smoking, and that smoking would affect his running. He always stood by his views on this… until now.

"Scourge?", Drago asked as he offered Sonic the packet, "Want one?"

Sonic shivered slightly with delight at the sound of his new name. _Scourge_. It was… _unusual_, but perfect. The name made Sonic feel as if he was actually somebody that could be feared and respected at the same time. He glanced at Sleuth, Drago, Flying Frog, and Lightning; taking them all into account. All of them - with the exception of Lightning - had shown him respect to an extent. Sonic needed their respect. He _craved _it. Sonic had to prove that he was the bad-ass that the Mobians assumed he was. So… what harm could one cigarette possibly bring…?

Fighting the nagging concerns about cancer and other health-related issues in his mind, Sonic smirked and took a cigarette. Flying Frog offered him a lighter, and Sonic reluctantly took it. The lighter in his hand hovered near the end of the cigarette. Sonic paused slightly, staring at the lighter, feeling Lightning glaring at him. At least he could admit to himself that he had no idea how to properly inhale tobacco in a cigarette, but if he so much as gave that impression to the others, they would mock him relentlessly. It was bad enough that Lightning was making it plainly obvious that he did not want Sonic there, but Sonic desperately wanted Drago, Sleuth, and Flying Frog on his side. Either that, or his life…

_Don't be such a loser_, he suddenly thought to himself, _Just inhale the stupid tobacco!_

Sonic froze slightly. Wow. Where did _that_ come from?

He gingerly raised the cigarette to his mouth, his lips slightly pursed. He closed his eyes as he inhaled through the cigarette deeply, the tobacco filling his mouth and then eventually his lungs. He fought the urge to cough as he relaxed against the brick wall behind him, allowing the sensation to swarm into his lungs. God, he hated the taste. He hated the dizzy feeling he received from inhaling the damn stuff. But if he wanted to remain on the Mobians' good side, he had to play along.

"This is excellent shit", Flying Frog grumbled as he inhaled once again. Lightning scoffed suddenly and glared at him, and then at the rest of the group.

"What is _with _you idiots?", he demanded angrily, and then pointed at Sonic, "Don't tell me you're actually letting this dipshit hang out with us!"

"Shut up, Lightning", Drago remarked.

"You're telling _me_ to shut up?", Lightning practically screamed, "This freak's a fucking _lunatic_-"

"Aren't we all?", Sleuth asked, chuckling at his question. Lightning almost tore his fur out with his hands in response.

"Oh, fuck this!", Lightning snapped and marched up to Sonic. Sonic gave Lightning a questioned look, exhaling smoke from his mouth. Lightning stood in front of him until they were nearly nose-to-nose.

"You have some nerve being here, boy", Lightning snarled, "I don't think you realised back there, but I'm not a very nice person when I get angry"

"Who are you, the Incredible Hulk?", Sonic replied sarcastically. The other Mobians nearby chuckled appreciatively at his response. Lightning felt his face become hot with anger and frustration.

"Who do you think you are, with your green quills and your stupid shades?", Lightning demanded and spat into Sonic's face, "Scum like you make me sick!"

Sonic paused to register what had happened to him, before he slowly raised his free hand to fiercely wipe away Lightning's saliva on his face. He stared at the hand he used to wipe away the saliva, and then slowly looked up at Lightning, taking note of Lightning's cocky smirk, and then calmly disposed of the cigarette, dropping it onto the ground beside him and crushed it with one shoe. Then, without warning, Sonic curled his hand into a fist and instantly punched Lightning in the face. Taking advantage of his speed, Sonic punched Lightning's face relentlessly with both fists until Lightning had collapsed onto the ground, crying out in pain. Sonic wanted to stop, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He felt infuriated that Lightning had the _nerve _to spit in his face, so Sonic badly wanted to return the favour. Although Lightning remained crumpled on the ground, nursing his broken nose, Sonic still didn't feel satisfied and found himself kicking Lightning's back viciously. Lightning cried out painfully; surely it wasn't possible that there was _somebody_ who was stronger and much more threatening than himself? True, Sleuth and Drago were both muscular, but Lightning was always the vicious member of their small gang who received the most respect, and now this… this _psychopath_ was questioning his reputation. The lynx couldn't deny it; he was infuriated by this Scourge Mobian, but he was extremely jealous of him at the same time. He looked pathetic compared to Scourge.

Sonic suddenly stopped and stared down at Lightning, breathing hard. He suddenly felt awful; he was_ never_ like this back home, not even towards Dr. Eggman. However at the same time, he felt somewhat relieved that he has the ability to stop himself before he got carried away; either that or he could have seriously injured Lightning, or could have _killed _him for that matter…

Sonic suddenly felt strong hands on his shoulders, pulling him away from the crumpled lynx on the ground. He turned around to find Sleuth and Flying Frog both holding him back from Lightning.

"Hey!", Flying Frog stated, "Cool it, will ya?"

"You've made your point, man", Sleuth agreed, his fingers gripping Sonic's leather jacket. Sonic wriggled away from the two Mobians and approached Lightning. Lightning noticed this and began to scramble away anxiously. Sonic ignored Lightning's pathetic attempt to escape and reached out with one hand and grabbed the lynx's face fiercely.

"Ya see, the thing about me", Sonic stated firmly in a stern voice to Lynx, "is that I only show respect to those who respect _me_… and those who don't suffer the most", Sonic smirked, "I guess you found out the hard way"

"Up yours!", Lightning spat, "I can easily take you on any day of the week! As if I'd ever show you respect!"

"It's like you said, Lightning", Sonic replied calmly, "Don't bite off more than you can chew, man"

Sonic concluded his statement by spitting on Lightning. Lightning growled and wiped the saliva away furiously, but didn't say anything. Sonic then turned around to find Sleuth, Drago, and Flying Frog staring at him helplessly, gormless. There was a brief silence. Drago was the first to break it.

"Dude, you're fucking crazy", the wolf chuckled. Sonic smirked and folded his arms confidently.

"Obviously", Sonic agreed, "So let it be a lesson to ya guys… don't _ever_ mess with me… otherwise you'd end up like Lightning"

"Ooh!", a voice called out from the opening of the alley, "We're, like, _so _scared!"

Sonic turned round to look at who was heckling him. Two figures emerged from the streets; an amber-coloured female fox and a pink female hedgehog both wearing dark, gothic clothing. The female fox wore a close-fitting black vest along with skinny black jeans and black converses, whereas the pink hedgehog wore a black corset with a close-fitting overall draped delicately over it, a black netted skirt, matching tights, and black heels. The females marched confidently towards the group lingering in the alley. The female fox sniffed and frowned at Lightning, who slowly regained himself and carefully stood up, wiping the blood from his nose.

"For God's sake, Lightning!", the female fox exclaimed, "I can't even leave you alone for five minutes, and you get your ass kicked!"

"Mm, well, whatever", Lightning grumbled, "Sorry, Fi"

Sonic fought the urge to laugh at Lightning's meek apology. The female fox suddenly glared at him. She placed both hands on her hips. Sonic stopped laughing, noticing her reaction. Perhaps he had done the wrong thing. What if he was messing with the most dangerous Mobian out of the lot? Lightning _had _apologised to her over such a pointless thing, after all, so what was he putting himself up against? How was _Scourge _supposed to react…?

"Who do you think you are, Snot*?", she snarled, referring to Sonic as she broke his line of thought, "Prancing around here in your big boots and shades; pushing other Mobians around… you're _seriously _pathetic!"

"I don't need to listen to you", Sonic declared, suddenly infuriated by her attitude, "I don't have to take criticism from a _woman-_"

Sonic stopped himself from going any further, covering his mouth with his hand, instantly regretting his comment from slipping out. The female fox narrowed her eyes at him. The pink hedgehog stood closely behind with her arms crossed and her mouth fixed into an 'O' shape with shock. Sonic badly wanted to zoom away from her in order to avoid yet another fight, but he couldn't. _Scourge _certainly wouldn't. _Scourge _wouldn't run away from anyone. His feet remained planted onto the ground. 'Fi' marched towards him, her face bright red, and fiercely shoved him so that he stumbled backwards.

"Oh, that's right!", 'Fi' answered, "You think that just because I'm a woman that I'm inferior to you? Well, come the fuck on, buddy. Let's see you fight back, eh?"

Sonic remained where he was. He _badly_ wanted to punch 'Fi''s smug face… but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He just couldn't. His arms failed to rise and curl his hands into fists, instead they just hung limply at either side of his body. Instead, Sonic simply glared at her. 'Fi' very nearly began to breathe fire at his unresponsive nature. She stepped forward so that they were nearly nose-to-nose.

"Oh, I forgot", she continued in a sickly sweet voice, "It's _wrong_ to hit a woman… but then again it's okay for _me _to punch your ugly face in!"

She raised her fist and swung it towards Sonic's face, but before her fist came into contact with his skin, Sonic managed to block the fist with one hand. Without warning, he immediately twisted her arm until 'Fi' had collapsed onto the ground, crying out in pain. He knew that if he added a bit more pressure, he would be able to break a bone or two in her arm. God, he wanted to do it. _Scourge_ wanted to do it…

But he couldn't. Sonic felt the energy drain out of his system. He knew that his legs would soon give in. God, he was so _tired_. Who knew that being such a douche bag would be exhausting? And what if 'Fi' decided to attack him whilst he was like this? _Scourge_ would never live it down. He needed his energy.

Sonic let go of her hand and began to march away from the gang. He had had enough action for one night. He decided that he was simply exhausted by the actions that took place that night, and wanted to get away from everything. The idea of going back to his apartment and crawling to his bed seemed like Heaven.

"This blows", Sonic announced loudly and nonchalantly, giving the impression that he was bored with their company, "I'm off"

"Hey, Scourge!", Drago called out, "See you around, yeah?"

"Yeah, hang around with us at some point, man", Sleuth agreed, "It'd be cool"

"Whatever", Sonic replied and began to make his way out of the alley. It was okay. He had got away with being somebody he wasn't. He had successfully gained the majority of their respect. However, it didn't stop him from listening into their conversations as he walked away…

"Hey!", 'Fi' screamed, "Get back here! We aren't finished here!"

Sonic smirked to himself and pretended not to hear her. He could tell that not responding to her outbursts infuriated the fox even more.

"C'mon, Fiona", Flying Frog chipped in, "Leave Scourge alone. He ain't that bad"

"Yeah", Sleuth agreed, "You don't want to mess with the likes of him"

"I'll do whatever I want, thank you very much!", Fiona screamed, "And who the Hell is this Scourge? Don't tell me it was that douche?"

"You've just met him", Sleuth chuckled.

"Oh, so help me!", Fiona cried, "He has some nerve, I tell ya! One day I'm going to… I mean… he's such a-"

"I think he's pretty cute", said the pink hedgehog. Sonic began to feel a bit uneasy at her comment. Great, now that _Scourge _had his followers, he already had a stupid girl with a crush on him. Oh, fantastic. That was _one_ thing that Sonic didn't want to deal with in his new lifestyle; love. It was bad enough when Amy…

Oh, Amy.

Sonic suddenly felt a lump form in his throat as he marched onto the main street in the city and began to make his way back to his apartment. He shook his head fiercely so that his green spines moved from side to side. No. He wasn't going to cry. He _wasn't_. He desperately recalled the numerous amount of times that Amy annoyed him in the past, as to reassure himself that he _certainly_ didn't need her around anymore, that he was better off without _love_.

But even that didn't stop him from _missing _her company…

* * *

><p>"I'll tell ya a secret", the voice told Amy, "One day I came home from work… only to find my fiancée in bed with my sister!"<p>

Amy gasped in shock as she peeled another photograph off of one of her bedroom walls. She couldn't believe her luck. Amy had spent the day taking down pictures of Sonic off of her walls throughout her apartment as she listened to endless podcasts on her iPod. Although Vanilla had come up with the idea to find help for Amy in order to forget Sonic, Amy found herself to be too proud to seek advice from a therapist. It was Cream who had come to her rescue by introducing Amy to the wonders of podcasts, many of which provided advice in a straight-forward manner without having to endure the embarrassment of sharing secrets with a complete stranger, even if they were professionals, and the expenses in order to see them. The podcasts which Cream had found were easy to download, free, and contained the reassurance that Amy needed to hear at that moment of time.

Amy found one particular podcast to be understanding and reassuring. Dr. Lois Brown, a grey racoon judging the artwork image of the file, was somebody who had gone through _roughly_ the same predicaments as Amy, and she found Dr. Lois's voice to reassuring and easy to listen to, and that in reality she was a preacher.

"… And I feel feeling seriously down, and that nobody loved me at all", Dr. Lois continued through the speakers of Amy's docking station, "My sister didn't care about my feelings, and to make matters worse, my fiancée chose my sister over me…", there was a pause on the track. Amy listened tentatively, tears forming in her eyes, but Dr. Lois continued, "… a few days had passed, and I was still feeling like crap - I was even contemplating _suicide_, might I add - but then I thought… 'my fiancée may not have loved me, but _God_ still loves me!'"

Amy shook her head fondly at the sound of Mobians in the background within the audio applauding Dr. Lois for her statement. Dr. Lois could be heard chuckling fondly at the sound of their applause, and then stopped.

"So then I thought", she continued, "'Well, they're welcome to one another, but I also have someone who will always watch me and _never_ betray me, and that's God!'"

Amy bit her lip as she slowly opened the back of a photo frame which consisted of an old photograph of her and Sonic.

"God will always love me, because I have confidence in him", Dr. Lois reassured her audience. The audience exclaimed and whooped happily at her comment, "And do you know what?", she asked suddenly to her audience, "I _know _that God is watching over me, because I've got great parents, great friends, and a fantastic career. And my sister? Well…", Dr. Lois could be heard clearing her throat awkwardly, "She fell pregnant. My ex-fiancée left her as soon as he found out, and now she's living with a mutual friend. Sometimes I sympathise her, but there are rare occasions where I want to say right into her face, 'Who's laughing now?'"

"So true", Amy muttered as she tore the photograph into small segments and shoved them into a half-empty bin liner.

"And it's okay to feel that way sometimes", Dr. Lois continued, "But sometimes you have to take into account of how the other person is feeling. Keep that in mind. But never forget: God. Loves. You. And don't go around thinking you are inferior to everyone else, because it will get you nowhere. You're not. You're _not_. God loves you for _exactly_ who you are… hey, he made you, didn't he? Am I right?"

A thunderous applause followed closely behind. When it eventually died down, Dr. Lois's piped up.

"Now", she began, "Who, in this crowd, has been let down by a loved one?"

Amy froze.

"Come on, now", Dr. Lois encouraged the audience, "Don't make me search for ya!"

Fond laughter followed. However, Amy remained facing her wall. There was only one picture of Sonic remaining on the wall. Amy felt tears forming in her eyes as she stared at his care-free smile and his gorgeous emerald eyes. She couldn't deny it. Despite what he had done… she was still in love with Sonic. She hated herself for still feeling infatuated by his appearance and her fond memories of him. Once or twice, Amy had convinced herself that if she managed to get to her kitchen within a certain amount of time, Sonic would be there eagerly eating cakes or cookies she had baked earlier in the day. But he was never there. Never. And she found herself regretting the restraining order more and more as time progressed.

"Have you been let down by a loved one?", Dr. Lois persisted, "Go on, don't be shy"

"Yes", Amy whispered, her eyes fixed on the photograph.

"And when it happened, you felt as though it was the end of Mobius?", Dr. Lois asked.

"Yes", Amy whispered once again.

"And you felt you would never get over it?"

"Yes", Amy whispered, leaning forward and resting her forehead just above the photograph, and continued to stare at Sonic's cheerful face.

"I can tell ya this from experience", Dr. Lois reassured her, "And I promise this that one day you'll get over this. It's _not_ a disaster! It's simply a small hiccup in your life, but don't let it get to ya. You _will_ get over this, and you _will _fall in love over and over again. And one day you'll meet somebody who will still worship the ground you walk on, even when you're having a bad hair day!", the audience could be heard chuckling at this, "And in the future when you're sitting with your husband with your kids, and when your husband asks you about your small 'hiccup', I _guarantee _you, you will laugh and say, 'What, _that_? Oh, that was _nothing_!'"

"No", Amy whimpered and she felt her face crumple at the idea of declaring her cousin's death as simply 'nothing'.

"And another thing", Dr. Lois added, "Just because you've been betrayed by somebody who you thought was 'the one', it _doesn't _mean that you can't move on, and that you can't love again! Because you _will_, because you have God to watch over you as your saviour"

"Mm?", Amy mumbled as she slowly lifted her head away from the wall.

"God has your whole life planned out for you because he _loves _you, and just because things turned out a bit pear-shaped, doesn't mean that he hates you", Dr. Lois stated in a firm voice, "He _wants_ you to experience life and he _wants _you to move on! So, it's time to do so! Are you ready?"

"Yes", Amy whispered, as she stared back at the photograph through her tears.

"First it's time to get rid of all the unwanted memories out of our lives", the racoon advised, "Be it a memory, photos, videos, email addresses, whatever. Don't forget, I know most of you have Blackberry phones! Let's do it altogether, c'mon"

Amy seized the photograph with one hand.

"Let's grab this memory and tear it away", she continued, "Physically grab it, select it with your devices, grab it through your mind, whatever"

Amy pulled the photograph off of the wall.

"Look at your memory, and _really _look it at, as though your life depended on it"

Amy stared at Sonic with all her might. She stared at his deep blue spines, his cocky smile, his perfect, even teeth, his emerald eyes, and his thumbs-up gesture in the picture. She ignored her younger self in the picture who sat closely beside Sonic, a huge smile on her face, as though she was very happy to be with him. But that was then, and this was now.

"Now…", Dr. Lois ordered, "Tear it up! Go on! Tear it up, crumple it away, delete it permanently, because that's what we're doing; if we want to erase these bad memories from our lives, we have to literally get rid of the evidence! Come on, let's _do _it!"

Amy eagerly tore the photograph in half and then into smaller pieces. Once that was done, she hurriedly shoved the pieces into the bin liner. Amy then scurried away from the bin liner, her heart beating rapidly. A pause followed on the track.

"And now that _that's _complete", Dr. Lois concluded, "You are all now one small step closer to moving on in your lives"

Amy remained silent as she stared into space, her back against the wall.

"And don't you all feel much better now that you've actually _done _something to help yourself move on?", the preacher asked, "And guess what; God was with you the entire time. He _gave _you the strength to move on in life. Now, let me hear ya… do you feel better?"

The audience agreed with her, applauding her once more. Amy still remained silent.

"Do. You. Feel. _Better_?", Dr. Lois demanded.

Amy stared at her iPod, and then slowly lifted her gaze to the bin liner that consisted of all the pictures she had of Sonic, that were torn to shreds. She then looked around her apartment and stared at her bare walls consisting of ghostly imprints where the pictures of Sonic used to be placed with perfection. It was a shock, yes, but now that the pictures were gone… Amy no longer had to endure facing hundreds of pictures of Sonic, knowing what he had done… remembering how he had betrayed Tails and Knuckles, her cousin, and herself…

Somehow… this was easier… if she wanted to move on in her life. If she wanted the sadness in her heart to vanish.

"Yes", Amy whispered, "Yes… I _do _feel better"


	6. Realisation

**Hey guys! I'm so, so, so sorry about the wait; I had to revise for an exam, and THEN I was on holiday for a fortnight, and THEN I had my exam shortly after I returned, so I never really had the opportunity to update my fics, so... yeah LOL! Right, no bullshit: from now on there will be more updates :D and since I was advised by a psychic to release my creative energy (lol!) I think this will be the best way to do so lol yaaay!**

**Now, Oceanbreeze7 brought my attention to one tiny flaw in my fic, so I hope you enjoy who will appear in this chapter lol! Credit for the idea/suggestion goes to Oceanbreeze7! Thank you!**

**So, enjoy!**

**~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**

****A/N: As seen in episode 37 of 'Sonic X'. Cosmo The Seedrian belongs to Sega.**

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><p>"I feel as if I'm losing my mind", the kitsune confessed as he watered the small plant, "I mean, I know that I still have Knuckles and the others for company, but… it's just not the same, I mean… I've lost you and now I've lost my big brother, too"<p>

Tails sighed as he placed the water pitcher aside and crossed his arms as he glanced out of the window nearest the work surface. He allowed a sigh to escape from his mouth as he gazed impassively into the horizon.

"Personally, I think I'm a jinx", he confided to the plant, "Everything I've cared about in the past has been… killed off, in some way. Even though I've always been there for Sonic, I can't help but feel I've been his Achilles Heel since we've become friends… did I tell ya about the time when we were in the Space Colony Ark and Eggman had released Sonic in an enclosed capsule, so that the capsule would collide into Earth? And that I sat there and said aloud that there was no way that I would give him the Chaos Emeralds, even though I felt completely and utterly defeated and that I hated myself for not jumping in at the right moment to save Sonic?* Well… it's the same thing all over again. I blame myself for not jumping in to stop Sonic from… I mean… when he pressed that button… I felt it was all my fault; that's why I was angry with Sonic, because I felt that in some way I was to blame…", Tails scoffed suddenly, "Okay, I _know_ that I'm not to blame for any of this, but I can't help but _feel _this way". His gaze fixed onto the plant once again.

"I know you think you're missing out in life, but you're lucky that you don't have to deal with these sort of things, ya know", Tails explained, "Sometimes I wish that I could trade places with you so that I wouldn't have to face life once in a while…", he sighed, "Is it just me, or have I gone stir-crazy? What's the word they use to describe feeling two different emotions towards something…?", Tails pondered and then realisation hit him, "Ambivalence! That's just it; I feel that I should hate Sonic, but I miss him at the same time. You see", Tails shrugged, "I haven't dared bring this up with the others, because I'm scared that they'll get the wrong impression and get it into their heads that I'm taking his side… But how else am I suppose to express how I'm feeling? I just can't bottle my emotions up! I just wonder how the others are able to cope with this… I mean, Knuckles appears fine and acts normally, but I wonder how Amy is feeling? Ya know, I bet she's in the same position as me, but she just doesn't want to admit it…", Tails paused and leaned forward towards the plant, "What do you think, Cosmo? Should I talk to Amy about it? After all, a problem shared is a problem halved"

The plant's only response was the gentle rustle within it's leaves due to the breeze outside. Tails stared hard at the plant, expecting a spiritual message of some sort. He needed advice and reassurance. He craved to hear Cosmo's shy yet smooth voice to talk back to him. Instead, there was nothing. Tails felt like crying. He felt more alone than ever.

"For cryin' out loud, _**SAY SOMETHING**_!", he shouted at the plant. And then he stopped. Tails immediately clamped his hand over his mouth to prevent any more words escaping from his mouth, tears forming in his eyes.

"Oh, God", the teenager whispered, "I'm so sorry, Cosmo! I didn't mean to; it's just that… I'm sorry…"

He sighed and leaned against the work surface, "Ya know, Cosmo, you're the only closest friend I have left", he explained, "If only you were still here-"

Before he could continue, a thunderous explosion erupted outside his workshop. Tails jumped at the impact and frowned to himself.

"… the Hell?", he muttered as he stood up straight and ran towards the main shutters of his workshop. When he peered outside, he was horrified to discover the destroyed remains of what used to be his X-Tornado. Exclaiming, Tails scurried outside towards his plane which consisted mostly of flames, debris, and black smoke. Tails coughed and gagged at the fumes that escaped from the X-Tornado, and when he reached the plane, he discovered that the X-Tornado was, indeed, thoroughly damaged. Inspecting the plane, Tails noticed that it would take him weeks, maybe even months, to repair and upgrade it. With gritted teeth, Tails growled and spun around to observe the skies surrounding him and his workshop. He felt his blood boil when he heard a familiar cackle.

"You know, Tails", began the deep voice, "I always thought your X-Tornado was a tad out-of-date, so I thought that I'd help you spruce it up a bit. I must say, it's certainly an improvement!"

"Damn it, Eggman!", Tails roared, "Y-you _destroyed_ my X-Tornado! What the Hell, man?"

"'Destroyed' is such a harsh word", Dr. Eggman corrected the fuming kitsune from his hovercraft, "Besides, without that… _thing_ around, I can easily target you without you pulling any tricks on me"

Tails swore under his breath.

"Let's cut the small-talk", Dr. Eggman ordered, "Give me the Chaos Emerald!"

"I don't have it!", Tails stated, when in actual fact, he was lying. He _knew _that the Chaos Emerald was hidden in the back of beyond in his workshop, confined behind sealed glass to prevent any technical disruptions with any of his machinery close by. Knowing that he was able to create copies of Chaos Emeralds**, Tails intended to repeat his experiment and use the copies to observe what would happen should they be exposed to many various objects, for example, from simple things such as a toaster or a television to advanced objects, such as the Master Emerald. He knew from previous experience that the copies of Chaos Emeralds were not as powerful as the real Chaos Emeralds, but he just wanted to find out just _how_ powerful they really were, and use this hypothesis to determine in what ways they could be of advantage in regards to protection against many enemies or forces of evil, such as…

Such as Dr. Eggman.

Dr. Eggman looked at Tails despairingly.

"Do you honestly take me for a fool?", Dr. Eggman sighed, "Look. I'll keep this concise: Give me the Chaos Emerald, and nobody gets hurt"

"Nobody gets _hurt_?", Tails screamed, "You just blew up my fucking X-Tornado! What _if_ somebody was harmed, you moron?"

"Simple", Dr. Eggman stated, "That would have meant that they would have been stupid enough to get in my way. That's just how I work around here, Tails: You get in the way - you face the consequences. Now, if you don't want me to blow you up into pieces, I suggest you surrender the Chaos Emerald and let me get on my way"

"You should do what Dr. Eggman says, Tails", a metallic voice piped up. Tails focussed his eyesight on Decoe, who appeared from behind Dr. Eggman in the hovercraft. Tails began to query in his mind how Decoe would have been able to find space to even sit down in the hovercraft considering Dr. Eggman's physique, but his line of thought was interrupted as Decoe continued to talk, "Dr. Eggman has a very high I.Q. - if I were you, I wouldn't try anything funny"

"What-", Tails growled to himself and then shouted, "Who the Hell asked _you_? Anyway, Eggman, I don't _have_ the stupid Emerald, so do us a favour and leave us _alone_!"

"_Us_?", Dr. Eggman demanded, "You mean to tell me there's somebody with you just now?"

"Yeah", Tails stopped suddenly, "I mean no… I mean… Oh, just fuck _off_!"

"No, no", Dr. Eggman grinned, "I'm intrigued! Who is it? Is it Sonic?"

"You know very well that it isn't Sonic, you inconsiderate monster!", Tails roared, feeling his hands curl into fists, his face red with anger. He prayed he wouldn't burst into tears in front of his own enemy.

"There's nobody there, Dr. Eggman", a deeper metallic voice announced behind Tails. Tails spun around to find Bocoe exiting the workshop calmly, "The only things that were remotely alive in there were food in his fridge, and this plant-"

"How did you get into my workshop?", Tails demanded angrily.

"You have a backdoor, idiot. All we needed was a diversion to distract you whilst I snuck in", Bocoe replied. Dr. Eggman paused and then bellowed with laughter.

"You _still_ have that plant?", Dr. Eggman snorted, "Is your life seriously _that _pathetic that you resolve to talking to a plant that has no emotions whatsoever?"

"Her name is _Cosmo_", Tails stated through gritted teeth and turned back to Bocoe, "And what, exactly, do you have there in your hand?"

"Something that's rightfully mine", Dr. Eggman announced firmly, "Listen, you two-tailed freak: just because you were involved in Sonic's latest fiasco in my base, it did _not_ give you the right to ransack through my belongings and _steal_ from me, otherwise I return the favour, got it?"

"You don't mean…?", Tails peered at the object in Bocoe's hand. The object sparkled in the bright daylight. Tails eyes widened.

"The Chaos Emerald!", he shouted and clenched his fists at Bocoe, "Give me it back, you asshole!"

Tails lunged forward, however Bocoe was too quick for Tails and punched the kitsune in the face with one metallic fist. Tails cried out at the pain and fell to the ground. Bocoe seized the opportunity to escape with the Chaos Emerald. Dr. Eggman lowered his hovercraft so that Bocoe could dive in. Tails wiped the blood from the graze on his cheek and glared at the cackling scientist.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Tails, but I'm afraid we must be on our way, now", Dr. Eggman sneered, "We're finally even-stevens now, and that's all that matters", Dr. Eggman suddenly glared at Tails through his small-framed glasses, "And if you know what's good for you, don't even bother trying to get your revenge, because you're just seriously pathetic, and you no longer have Sonic to fight your battles for you! And, also, tell Sonic I said 'Hi'… oh, wait, you _can't_!", and with that, and his henchmen hovered away from the furious kitsune, all three laughing loudly, content that their plan had been successful. However, Tails wouldn't give up. He found himself standing up and running towards his garage nearby that contained the original Tornado. As he climbed in, Tails paused briefly to smile at the memories that he had of the Tornado and the adventures he used to have with…

Clearing his throat, he switched the engine on, and began to manoeuvre out of the garage. And despite the fact that the Tornado was seriously out-dated and slow compared to the X-Tornado, he found himself taking off and flying into the blue skies without any problems whatsoever. Tails tightened his grip on the controls and flew towards the direction where he had last seen Dr. Eggman's hovercraft. It wasn't long until he caught up with the notorious doctor. Tails smirked as he flicked a switch, watching with glee as bullets began to fire from his aircraft towards the hovercraft. The bullets collided into the paintwork, however Tails's smirk vanished when it was revealed that when he had stopped firing bullets at the hovercraft, there was hardly any damage done to the machinery. Not even so much as a scratch on the paintwork.

"B-but that's impossible!", Tails shouted, "How could-"

"Do you like it, Tails?", Dr. Eggman shouted, "I've added extra protection to my hovercraft because I somewhat knew that you'd try to take me down after our rendezvous!"

"You can't be serious…", Tails mumbled.

"And just to show that I wasn't kidding when I warned you not to get revenge on me…", Dr. Eggman piped up, and with that he flicked a switch hidden in the midst of his hovercraft. Without any warning, missiles suddenly appeared from both sides of the rear of the hovercraft and flew towards the Tornado without mercy. Panicking, Tails desperately lunged at his controls and attempted to manoeuvre the Tornado out of the missiles' fire range. However, he was too late. One missile had managed to strike into the engine of his plane, causing the engine to fail automatically and stop abruptly, smoke escaping from the damage. Eyes widened, Tails began to exclaim with fear at the possibility of _dying_ as the Tornado plunged down towards the ground beneath him at a frightening speed. He desperately clung to the main joystick and attempted to level the Tornado so that it wouldn't crash face-first into the ground. Slowly, but surely, the Tornado was eventually at a balanced level. Regardless, the plane crashed onto a nearby grassy hill, wheels screeching as the plane spun and tumbled relentlessly until it eventually came to a standstill. Tails remained very still, his head pressed against the Tornado's control panel… in which he suddenly inhaled, and coughed.

"Tails!", a voice shouted from afar. Tails peered into the direction where the voice came from, and saw a red echidna gliding towards him. When Knuckles reached the ground, he ran over to the kitsune.

"I saw Eggman get away", he reported, "What happened?"

Tails didn't say a word. Instead, he shook his head.

"What did Eggman _do_, Tails?", Knuckles persisted. Tails stared at the thick smoke emerging from the engine of his Tornado, and recalled the terrible condition his X-Tornado was in back at the workshop. Tails felt tears forming in his eyes. It wasn't as if _Knuckles_ would understand; Knuckles did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and put his needs before everyone else. Even if Tails explained what had happened, Knuckles would dismiss it as nothing and wander back to the Master Emerald.

Still, all his hard work _had_ been destroyed; Tails had the right to feel angry!

"Two years of hard work gone within a number of minutes", Tails grumbled.

"What?", Knuckles asked, confused.

"Both my Tornado and my X-Tornado are gone, thanks to that ignorant oaf"

"Well", Knuckles paused, "That's not too bad, right? I mean, you can easily build another one-"

"Do you know who might have stopped all of this from happening?", Tails asked calmly, interrupting Knuckles, "Sonic"

"Screw that guy", Knuckles snapped, "We're better off without him"

"What", Tails asked, "Oh, so I've lost two of my closest friends and then had my workshop attacked by Eggman… and I'm suppose to be, what, _happy_?"

"You know what I meant", Knuckles argued.

"You know, with one Chaos Emerald, Sonic would have been able to take Dr. Eggman out instantly. But now that he's no longer here, we're like sitting ducks! Oh, why didn't I see this _coming_?"

"Meaning?"

"Without Sonic, Dr. Eggman is becoming stronger than ever", Tails explained, "Nobody around here has the strength to take him out, and he'll take advantage of that by becoming invincible. We _know_ what he's capable of, but we're just not strong enough to battle him… we _need_ Sonic"

* * *

><p>"Hey 'snot'", a voice called out in a monotonous tone. It took Sonic a couple of seconds to realise that the Mobian was calling to him and peered down towards the ground underneath him. He had been enjoying a lazy afternoon perched on top of a wall whilst smoking his way through a small packet of cigarettes - which he personally blamed Drago for - but when he noticed a familiar female fox dressed in black clothing, arms crossed, glaring at him from below, he couldn't help but groan out loud.<p>

"What?", he asked flatly. Fiona paused slightly, and then shrugged.

"Well, _that _wasn't much of a 'hello', if you don't mind me saying so", she remarked, shaking her fringe out of her eyes. Sonic sighed impatiently. _Honestly_, he thought to himself, _this girl doesn't give up_!

"Alright!", Sonic snapped, "I get it! I was an ass the other night, and I shouldn't have said those things. I'm sorry, okay? So just leave me alone!"

"What?", Fiona asked and then sighed, "No, man. I'm not here to pick on you", she paused slightly, "Though what you said that night made me want to smack your teeth in"

Sonic rolled his eyes. Fiona noticed this. She hesitated and then climbed up onto the wall beside him.

"How about offering me a cigarette?", she hinted. Sonic stared at her for a few seconds, but slowly offered her the packet. Fiona smirked and took one. Sonic smirked at her reaction, and then recoiled. What was he _doing_, inviting Fiona to sit with him? _Scourge_ wouldn't allow it! He would demand Fiona to respect him, beg him for forgiveness…

"So", Fiona suddenly piped up, breaking his line of thought, "What's your story?"

"Huh?", Sonic asked, unaware that Fiona had stolen the lighter from his grasp. Fiona lit her cigarette, inhaled deeply, and exhaled, making expert smoke rings with her mouth.

"C'mon, man", she explained, "There's always a background story for a bad-ass. So spill"

Sonic panicked slightly, but then relaxed. He smirked, glancing at her.

"Ladies first", he offered. Fiona shot him a look, and then smiled knowingly. She then looked up into the sky.

"Geez", she commented, "Where do I begin?"

"How's about when your bad-ass reputation began?", Sonic joked. Fiona chuckled and shoved him playfully.

"Shut up!", she retorted, and then paused, "Well… I guess it began when I was, like, really young… See, I came from this broken family… a-and, you know what it's like, right? I mean, my Dad left me and my Mom when I was really young, and my Mom got all depressed…"

"… Yeah?"

Fiona flicked her fringe out of her eyes once more. Sonic couldn't help but notice that there were tears in her eyes.

"Then she met this guy", she continued, "And she was really happy, and don't get me wrong, I was really happy for _her_… until she started neglecting me, like going out every night and leaving me to look after myself… At first, it was fun, y'know?", Fiona sighed and wiped her eyes, "Sorry, man"

"It's cool", Sonic replied. Fiona sniffled and breathed out slowly before continuing.

"… Then one day she announced that she was going on holiday with her new boyfriend. I tried to stop her from going but she just ignored me. She told me she was only going for a week…", Fiona sniffed, "She was gone for three weeks. There was my Mom enjoying the sunshine abroad… and there was me locked in our apartment. I was running out of food, a-and there was these guys trying to barge into our apartment… but then, like, these social workers found me 'cause my neighbour overheard me crying when I was alone in the apartment, and then I got sent to a care home…"

A silence followed. Sonic took another puff from his cigarette, and then cleared his throat.

"… And?", Sonic coaxed her. Fiona inhaled her cigarette desperately, and shook her head.

"It was Hell", she snapped, "Everybody kept ganging up on me because I was different, the other girls stole my things, and I wasn't even safe at school because they tormented me there and managed to turn other Mobians my age against me, too. It really got to me; it felt as though the whole planet was against me and hated me for who I was", Fiona swallowed, "And then one day I suddenly thought, 'Fuck them! I don't care what they think!', and from that point onwards I began to cause trouble"

"Ooh, you naughty girl!", Sonic teased, chuckling, "Why, what did you do? Steal bubblegum?"

Fiona burst out laughing.

"Oh, y'know", she commented, "I got caught up with the wrong type of people, but in a way I felt as though I was actually _somebody_ when I hung out with them. You see, when you're part of a gang, you have your followers… and then you have your enemies-"

"So, does that make you an enemy, then?", Sonic asked curiously, stubbing his cigarette out.

"Just don't mess with me, green bean, that's all I ask", Fiona warned, "So, things got a bit out of control when I first joined a gang; this other gang laughed at the idea of a female member, and one of them tried to have his way with me…", Fiona breathed out, "And I slashed his face with a broken glass bottle… I was drunk, y'know, but when I saw the fear in the guy's face when I cut him… I felt overwhelmed with power, and I can admit it… I liked it", Fiona smirked at the memory and then it quickly vanished, "My obsession with hurting others who threatened me got so bad that I ended up having to go to anger management sessions with my social worker! God, that was awful... It just feels as though... jeez, I don't know... as if nobody understands me, y'know?", Fiona paused briefly and suddenly shook her head, allowing her fringe to fall over her eyes once again, "So that's my story; Good Girl Gone Bad. Screw my anger management! So… What's your excuse?"

"You really want to know?", Sonic enquired. Fiona nodded. Sonic leaned towards her in order to tease her curiosity.

"I killed a guy", he hissed proudly. Fiona's eyes sparkled with delight.

"For real?", she asked enthusiastically, "Like, for _real_? What did you _do_ to him?"

"You should have seen his face", Sonic lied, "I was busy robbing this bank, see, and this guy thought he'd be the hero of the day and try and stop me. So what did I do?", he gestured his hand into the resemblance of a gun, "I blew his head off! _BANG_!"

Fiona paled, staring at him.

"Christ", she muttered, "What was it like? I mean, I've done some crazy shit, but I've never gone _that_ far!"

"It felt epic", Sonic grinned, "The guy was out of the count before he could even blink. His brain blew up into small pieces and splattered everywhere. It was like something out of a horror film"

"Harsh", Fiona commented as she stubbed out her cigarette, "But funny, in my opinion"

"So the cops thought that this wasn't fair so I grabbed one of them and forced him to rub his face against the brains-"

"Eurgh!", Fiona laughed, "That's fucking disgusting!"

"But then I was outnumbered and I got taken to court", Sonic sighed. Well, he wasn't really getting himself into trouble if he simply _lied_ about what had happened; besides, neither Fiona nor the rest of the gang recognised him, they were simply too enchanted by Scourge. Sonic peeked at Fiona over his shades. Fiona stared at him as though he was God himself; she was impressed enough by his lies.

_Hey_, he thought to himself, _What she doesn't know can't hurt her… right?_

"… And here I am", Sonic announced, shrugging slightly, "Your ultimate bad-ass of the century!"

There was a brief pause between the Mobians.

"Respect", Fiona mumbled. She swung her legs for a bit and then hesitated.

"Listen", she piped up, "I'm sorry for trying to hit you the other night. I didn't mean-"

"Nah, it's cool", Sonic answered, "I didn't mean what _I _said, I was just having a bad day, and… well… I just wanted a bit of respect, really"

"Mm", Fiona replied, "Let me tell you something about me, Scourge: I'll only respect you if you respect me"

"It's a deal", Sonic promised, grinning.

"Sweet", Fiona grinned, and then slipped off of the wall, "Gotta go, I'm seeing somebody later on"

"Ooh!", Sonic cooed jokingly, "Your boyfriend?"

"No!", Fiona protested, "I'm seeing Rosie to go shopping"

"You don't mean…", Sonic muttered, recalling what she had said about him. He rubbed his forehead miserably.

"Yep, our own Rosie Rascal", Fiona chuckled, "I'd be careful if I were you; she's already got this monster crush on you"

"I hope a monster crushes _her_", Sonic remarked. Fiona chuckled. She then looked at him properly.

"You know", she remarked, "You're… alright, Scourge. Listen, we're going out tomorrow night to a nightclub, you should join us"

"I'll think about it"

"I'll take that as a 'yeah'", Fiona smirked, "See ya around. But listen; I know it feels awesome when you pick on other Mobians but… sometimes you have to be considerate about how _they_ feel, too. They might have been through tough times themselves, 'kay?"

And with that Fiona strolled away from Sonic. Sonic stared at Fiona as she slowly made her way down the street until she was nothing more than a tiny blur into the distance. It was hard to believe that a civilised conversation was actually possible between the two Mobians. And although Sonic didn't want to admit it, Fiona was right. It wasn't really her fault that she had lashed out on him to begin with; Fiona was simply threatened by his comments as they had brought back hurtful memories of her mother and the Mobian who tried to take advantage of her… it was no wonder that she wanted to hit him. _Scourge _would have felt the same way.

Sonic leaned forward and stared across the street from where he was sitting, and smirked. Fiona was the type of girl he found interesting; she was a challenge, and had a sense of humour. She wasn't clingy and she certainly didn't care about how she looked, like other girls.

Sonic smirked to himself as he combed his green quills with his left hand.

Yep, Fiona was alright, really.


	7. Entr'acte

**Dear Readers**,

Throughout my years on Fan Fiction, I have across great stories in which I have become a devoted reader and reviewer for the authors of the stories; eagerly anticipating and reading their latest chapters and reviewing their work. As a result, I have always been disappointed if my favourite writers had abandoned or had simply forgotten to update their stories…

As a writer, I have never imagined that I would end up doing relatively the same thing.

I have always been honest to you, my fellow readers, if there had been a delay in updating my fics. I have always explained why I had not found the time to update my fics: Busy with school, then university, coursework, or simply suffering from terrible cases of Writer's Block…

I felt that it would be fair to explain to you my current situation: One of my close relatives has been diagnosed with a serious illness, and the news has left me emotionally drained, to the point where I would click into my latest work… and have nothing to write. I would stare at my screen for hours, and would only be able to write a few words.

I would like to stress that I am _**NOT**_ abandoning my fics, nor am I cancelling my account. I am very eager to continue writing, and I will do when I have found my enthusiasm to write once again. However, I am uncertain _when_ I will return to update my fics; my relative will become increasingly ill throughout their treatment within the next couple of months, so it may be a number of days, perhaps even weeks before I will be able to use my imagination once more, for my help will be needed at home as part of their Support Team.

Therefore, I felt that it would be fair to inform my readers the current situation in which I am in, and how this will affect my writing. I am very sorry, for I know how infuriating it can be for an author to refuse to update their stories. I would like to remind my readers that I have not forgotten '_The Memoirs Of Amy Rose_' or _'Through The Looking Glass_', and that I am eager to continue the stories whenever I have the chance and the creative energy to do so. I do hope you, my fellow readers, understand. Should you wish to send me a PM, I will answer them whenever I can.

I apologise, once again, for the inconvenience.

Thank you for your time.

~_**Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**_


	8. An Unpleasant Encounter

**Hey guys!**

**Now, I'd like to thank those who had been understanding about my current situation at home, and had sent me reassuring reviews and messages. These reviews and messages had meant a lot to me; it was so comforting to know that I'm not alone when events like these happen. Although it has been a while since I've last updated, I still intend to continue writing. Originally, I was going to split this chapter into two separate chapters, but for some odd reason, I had found myself squeezing my writing into the one chapter, so... yeah lol!**

**Again, thank you for your understanding, and hopefully I'll update soon!**

**~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**

**A/N: 'Jeffrey St. Croix', belongs to Archie Comics. The Mobians in the nightclub belong to me. **

*** References to 'Sonic OVA', 'Sonic X' episode 27, 'Sonic X' episode 38, 'Sonic Unleashed', and 'Sonic The Hedgehog' '06**

* * *

><p>Sonic grinned as he peered out of his living room window to find a silver Jaguar XF parking in the street from down below, loud voices escaping from the open windows of the car. Suddenly, Sonic cringed and peered at the police cruiser that was parked nearby, anticipating the worst. He was relieved to see that there was no police officer sitting inside the car, and peered back at the group and gestured at them to come into his apartment. Voices followed as the group climbed out of the Jaguar XF, closely followed by the repetitive sounds of footsteps climbing up the spiral staircase towards his front door. Sonic grinned as the group of Mobians knocked on his front door impatiently, and opened it with a flourish. There stood Drago, Sleuth, Lightning, Rosie, and Fiona, all smirking back at him and automatically barged through his front door and into his apartment.<p>

"S'happening, man?", Sleuth asked casually, patting Sonic's shoulder. Lightning nodded at him as he strolled past, and Drago greeted Sonic by ruffling his messy quills. Sonic smirked to himself; knowing that Fiona must have passed the word around that, according to her, _Scourge_ was to be shown some respect after their mutual conversation. He nodded appreciatively at Fiona as she waltzed in wearing a black t-shirt promoting a festival, dark blue skinny jeans, a pair of black, heavily buckled Dr Martens boots and a leather jacket.

"Great minds think alike, Fi", he joked as he glanced at his own leather jacket hanging on a coat rack on the wall. Fiona smirked and rolled her Kohl-rimmed eyes.

"Whatever", she commented. Fiona heard a shuffle behind her, closed her outlined eyes calmly, and reopened them. She pointed casually behind her.

"You remember Rosie?", she asked, smiling knowingly. Sonic fought the urge to groan in despair. There stood Rosie in a strange, black corset dress; the corset deliberately tightened around the waist to an extent where Sonic could see that she was having trouble breathing properly, swirl-laced tights and leather heeled boots. She flashed Sonic a flirtatious smile with her red lips and fluttered her long lashes at him.

"Hi Scourge", she cooed. Sonic grunted in response and stepped aside so that she could make her way into his lounge. As she waltzed past him, she traced her right hand on his left arm, causing him to freeze over in response. Sonic grimaced; he didn't care how much Rosie liked _Scourge_; he wouldn't let Rosie come near him or touch him for that matter - not even with a ten foot pole. He glanced at Rosie's choice of clothing once again and shot Fiona a bemused face.

"I _know_", she stressed, "I'm really sorry - I told her that you might not be into her, but she won't take 'no' for an answer. I mean, she's my best friend and all-"

"Save it", Sonic replied sharply, "Just make sure she stays away from me. _Far_ away"

"Will do", she promised and then looked at Sonic properly, "Is _that_ what you're wearing tonight?"

"What's wrong with it?", Sonic demanded and glanced at his choice of clothing: a plain white t-shirt, ripped jeans, and his boots. Fiona smirked.

"What's _right_ with it?", she asked, "We're going to a nightclub, and you look like a member of a pre-teen boy band, for God's sake!"

"What do you recommend, then?"

"Where's your closet?"

Before Sonic could reply, Fiona invited herself into his bedroom, and immediately went to his closet. Sonic smirked and followed her.

"Possibly _the _worst chat-up line _ever_!", he joked, "If you're _that_ desperate to get into my bed, you should have just _said_… _and_ I'd need a couple of beers beforehand!"

Fiona scoffed, threw a black t-shirt at Sonic and then barged past him whilst leaving the room.

"Stop thinking about porn and get changed", she joked and went to join the others in the living room. Sonic shook his head and looked at the t-shirt. He failed to notice the significance of the t-shirt, wondering why his appearance would have been _that _important for a night out on the town.

_Well, Fi knows fashion better than I do_, he decided, _Fine. Never let it be said. Black t-shirt it is_.

When he eventually joined the rest of the gang, his eyes widened through his shades at the sight of Drago and Sleuth sharing a joint.

"You ever tried this shit, Scourge?", Sleuth asked casually, lounging lazily on the sofa. Sonic stared at him.

"Dude", he commented, "You do _drugs_?"

"So?", Sleuth asked impassively. Sonic opened and closed his mouth, and then shook his head in disbelief.

"So sorry I spoke", Sonic muttered. Sleuth narrowed his eyes at Sonic and then exclaimed happily, leaned forward and ruffled Sonic's quills. Sonic sighed mentally; what was _with_ Mobians and their obsession with touching his quills?

"Aw, Scourgey", Sleuth jeered, "Don't tell me you've never smoked a joint before, man?"

"I bet Scourge never even smoked before he met us", Drago grinned, "Have you _seen_ the way he smokes his cigarettes, man? It's like it's a matter of life or death for him, y'know?"

"Well, you can't resist the power of tobacco", Sonic chuckled, "Gotta say, it's excellent shit"

"True, true", Drago nodded.

"Scourge, I tell ya", Sleuth continued, "This joint will blow your fuckin' mind"

"Yeah, c'mon, Scourge!", Drago chipped in. Sleuth passed the joint to Sonic. Sonic hesitated, and then gradually reached out and took the joint from Sleuth. He stared at it. Okay, cigarettes and alcohol were one thing, but smoking cannabis was another thing entirely. Sonic wondered if he had taken the role of Scourge further than what he was comfortable with. He paused slightly. Would he really go as far as taking drugs in order to pretend to be something he wasn't? He recalled a couple of years ago when the old gang used to hang out at Tails's workshop, Amy had once brought along one of her teen magazines, and spent around ten minutes commenting on an article about peer-pressure; moaning about how stupid peer-pressure was between friends, and that she was grateful that such a thing didn't exist between _them_…

Sonic froze. So… was _this _peer-pressure…?

"He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to", Fiona suddenly remarked. Sonic jumped slightly, and then caught on. He yawned and passed the joint to Rosie.

"_Please_", Sonic sneered, "I've tried better stuff than _that_!"

"Yeah?", Rosie asked, "Like what?"

"Oh, y'know…", Sonic lied, trying his best to look relaxed, though he felt his cheeks burning. Even _he _could admit to himself, from time to time, that he was a terrible liar. Rosie smirked flirtatiously and fumbled inside her small bag. She then produced a small see-through bag containing small, white pills. Rosie took one of the pills out and handed one to Sonic.

"Bet you've never tried _this_", she teased, grinning. Sonic stared at her as if she was mad.

"Get real, Rosie", Drago piped up, "If Scourge wouldn't take a puff off the joint, what makes you think that he'd take any of _them_?"

"Different Mobians have different tastes, Dip-shit!", she snapped, infuriated that Drago was ruining her first chance to properly socialise with Scourge that very evening. Sonic felt irritated the fact that the two Mobians were arguing about him, that they were suddenly unaware that he was in the same room as them. Was a little peace and quiet too much to ask for? Scourge didn't _need_ Rosie to fight his battles for him; it was already a battle having her as company. Scourge only looked out for one Mobian; himself. He didn't need help from other Mobians - he had his reputation to think about! What sort of a bad-ass would he be if he had a crazy fan-girl as security? Surely Rosie was aware that he was more than capable to deal with assholes like Drago? And as for Drago, he had some nerve to mock Scourge - _Scourge_, of all Mobians - for not taking drugs!

However…

If Sonic wasn't careful, the teasing would spread throughout the gang like a virus, and _then_ he would have to deal with the pressure, insults, jokes about him and crude imitations of him taking place in _front_ of him… and what if _other_ gangs found out that the baddest Mobian out of them all wouldn't dream of taking drugs…?

"Oh, for God's sake! Gimme that!", Sonic snapped and snatched the pill from Rosie's hand. Without any hesitation, he crammed the pill into his mouth and swallowed it. He breathed out, relieved. He focussed his attention on the gang once more, only to find them staring at him curiously. Unable to stand the silence, Sonic stood up and bolted to his room. When he slammed the door, he leant against the door, and slid towards the floor in a crumpled heap. Heart racing, he could only imagine how Amy and his old friends would have reacted if they had found out that their hero was taking _drugs_. Sonic wanted to weep that after all that had happened to him, _this_ is what he had become. What was suppose to be a chance to better himself had turned him into Mobians whom he had despised the most in the past; a gangster. Trouble-maker. _Scum_.

Sonic closed his eyes in defeat, feeling beads of sweat forming on his forehead. When his eyes were closed, Sonic suddenly saw Amy in his mind, with a disgusted expression on her face.

_**Look at the state of you**__!,_she screamed in his mind, her eyes ablaze with anger, _**You're not the hedgehog I was once in love with! You're nothing! You're a pathetic, ugly, sleazy, worthless, murderous, good-for-nothing-**_

A sudden knock on the door brought Sonic back into reality. He listened cautiously to the sound, unable to determine if there was actually somebody knocking on his door, and _not_ his mind playing tricks on him. Amy's voice continued to echo softly in his mind, causing his heart rate to increase. The Mobian knocked on the door again. Sonic began to panic. Supposing the insults that attacked his mind wasn't _really_ his imagination playing tricks on him? Maybe Amy really _was_ on the other side of the door; ready to barge in and attack the troubled hedgehog physically as well as verbally abuse him. Would Sonic allow her to do so? What would he do? What would he _say_? Would he even be given the chance to open his mouth? Would he fight back…?

"Scourge", a familiar voice called on the other side of the door, "Let me in"

Sonic slowly stood up and opened the door. Instead of Amy, he saw Fiona standing before him instead. She raised her eyelids at him.

"You okay?", she asked. Sonic paused and nodded, rubbing his forehead.

"Mmf", he mumbled, "I'm fine… I just had one of those moments, y'know?"

"Look, don't let Sleuth and Drago get to ya", Fiona explained, "They don't mean to tease you… they look up to you, ya know"

"For God's sake!", Sonic grumbled, "I don't give a shit about what they think, alright? I don't give a shit about _anything_. _Get it_?"

He wasn't being deliberately rude to Fiona. A part of Sonic was relieved that it was Fiona instead of Amy on the other side of the door, for he was unsure of how he would have handled the situation if the possibility had become reality. Yet… at the same time, he felt somewhat devastated because… he had hoped, in some way, that Amy really _was _there all along. Fiona's company was good enough for him, but Sonic badly wanted to tell Amy how much he missed her. He wanted to make it up to her. And to find out that, in reality, it was Fiona instead who wanted to speak to him… Sonic suddenly felt angry with _himself_ for jumping to stupid conclusions. Why would _Amy_ want to speak to _him_, of all Mobians? Why was he still _thinking_ about her? Besides, _Scourge_ could have any girl he wanted. Why would he want an annoying brat for a girlfriend, anyway?_ Scourge_ wouldn't linger in the past - Scourge the hedgehog would move on with his life and take advantage of his ego to attract potential future girlfriends.

"Scourge. Wait", Fiona grabbed his arm. Sonic stopped and spun around to face her. She studied the irritated expression on his face, a concerned look in her eyes, "What _is_ it?"

"It's _nothing_", he snapped, looking away from her, "It's just… memories…"

"Alright, alright!", she protested, her grip remaining on his arm, "But… you _really_ need to relax! I-I'm Just saying…"

Sonic wriggled away from her, and grabbed his leather jacket.

"I'm bored, guys!", he announced loudly for everybody to hear, "Let's _go_ already!"

"About fucking time!", Sleuth joked and with that the gang joined the green hedgehog and the bewildered fox in the hall.

"I'll make you guys a bet", Sonic began, "I'll race you guys to the nightclub, and if you beat me, I'll buy drinks for all of ya! _If_ I beat you, however, you have to buy _me_ drinks and refer to me as the 'Almighty One', deal?"

"Oh, you're _so _gonna lose", Drago grinned, "I've just made a few changes to my engine, and there's absolutely no _fucking _way you'll be able to outrun us!"

"We'll see about that", Sonic grinned knowingly.

"Get ready to lose, Snot!", Lightning smirked, cracking his knuckles. Sonic didn't bother to protest any further. He knew, hands down, who was going to make it to the nightclub first.

* * *

><p>Sonic burst out laughing at the sight the group cursing and yelling at one another in the vehicle as they hit heavy traffic in the middle of the street whilst he sped past them, realising straight away that they had lost the bet. Sonic teased them for a while by stopping and leaning against a wall nearby the car, loitering and casually inspecting his gloves with a cocky smile on his face. This simply encouraged the Mobians to shout obscene comments at him, however they were significantly different to what Amy had thrown at Sonic in his mind; true, their comments were crude and over-the-top, but Sonic knew that they were only teasing him in their own way, mostly because they were caught up in the heat of the moment. Sonic smirked and faced the palms of his hands toward them in mock-defense.<p>

"Hey", he joked, "I can't help it if you losers are slower than me!"

More crude comments escaped from the open windows of the car. Sonic shrugged, gestured rudely at them and ran off towards their destination. God, the cool air felt _so _amazing against his skin and quills. He loved the idea that nobody could stop him; he was invincible… he was _Scourge_.

And yet…

He didn't know what was wrong with him. True, his feet were as fast as ever as they skimmed across the street.

… _Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left_….

However, a strange feeling began to overwhelm him. Regardless of the cool air, he began to feel warm. Very warm. Although his feet kept moving, Sonic felt himself begin to sweat under his leather jacket. Strange; he had never felt like _this_ before whenever he went for a run. He couldn't have gained weight; he had a high metabolism, and he had always lead a healthy lifestyle before he became addicted to smoking. _Smoking_! That must have been the explanation! Sonic then frowned. No, wait. Smoking usually caused breathlessness, _not_ high temperatures or excessive sweating.

… _Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left…_

The street in front of him began to spin. Sonic began to panic; _this_ certainly had never happened before! He looked this way and that, taking note of the sudden brightness of the streetlights and the neon signs of individual bars, the loud music blaring into his ears uncomfortably, as though each note were dark spirits swarming around his head, blocking his path, possessing his mind, but his feet wouldn't stop moving. He had to run. He had to…

He cried out as he crashed into two trash cans that were situated in the alley way beside a bar. It took Sonic a few minutes to learn that he had lost his sense of direction and had collided into the trash cans whilst under his dizzy spell. He felt his cheeks burn as Mobians waiting in line to get into the bar laughed in amusement at him. Sonic brushed at his leather jacket when he noticed the silver Jaguar XF situating itself near the entrance to the bar. Drago was the first to jump out of the car, looking somewhat concerned as he approached Sonic.

"Man!", he remarked, "What happened? One minute you were fine, and then - _whoosh_ - you just randomly ran into these trash cans!"

"I'm fine, man", Sonic mumbled, feeling his heart rate increase. It felt as though he was going to die. He stumbled and feel backwards slightly. Sonic reached out and grabbed somebody's shoulder, only to discover Fiona beside him, supporting him.

"No, you're not", she argued, "What have you _taken_?"

"Nothing extreme! Just that stupid pill Rosie gave me…"

"I don't believe…", Fiona looked up and glared at the pink hedgehog dressed in black as she gradually made her way towards the rest of the gang, and shouted, "Rosie! What exactly did you give Scourge?"

"What?", Rosie asked casually, inspecting her quills in her compact mirror.

"You know what! Those pills! What were they?"

"Oh, them? Ah, nothing special, really. Just ecstasy tablets"

"Are you _serious_?"

"Oh, lighten up, Fi! I know that you've taken _far_ worse!"

"But Scourge is really unwell. Just _look _at him!"

"Uh… it's only been at least forty minutes since he, like, took the pill", Lightning added, "Doesn't ecstasy take at least an hour to take effect?"

"_So_?", Fiona demanded angrily as Sonic's head lolled from side to side carelessly, as though his neck had no control of his head whatsoever. Sonic smirked at the feeling. It felt so _strange_… so _good_…

"I bet he's just like this to get attention", Lightning stated.

"That's stupid, Lightning!", Fiona snapped angrily. Tired from the bickering around him, Sonic supported himself on his own two feet and sniffed.

"Lightning's right", he stated. Everybody stared at Sonic, stunned. Even Lightning was taken aback, "Just wanted to check how you'd react, since I _am _the 'Almighty One' after all!"

"What…?", Fiona was at loss for words. Sonic winked at her through his shades.

"I _did_ beat you guys racing here", he pointed out, "You owe me!"

The others guffawed. Fiona stared at Sonic briefly before shoving him away angrily.

"You have some nerve, Scourge!", she snapped.

"Chill, Fi", Sonic replied, "I was just joking around! I feel fine!", although he felt like collapsing on the spot.

"Just fuck off!", she shouted and with that she marched into the nightclub by herself. Sonic swallowed nervously, his heart beating rapidly. What was he _thinking_?

"Don't worry about her", Sleuth added as he patted Sonic's shoulder, "She just needs to calm down a bit"

* * *

><p>It just… wasn't funny. At all. Fiona sniffed as she traced the small drops of beer on the surface of the bar with her finger. <em>Faking<em> having side-effects with a drug? It just wasn't on. It was just about as fun as being kicked in the face. Fiona recalled how Rosie had went through a similar situation herself, however she didn't fake it. Rosie ended up in hospital after going overboard with ecstasy, and afterwards the two friends has agreed never to touch drugs again. Of course, rules are made to be broken, and it wasn't long before they had both began to experiment with other drugs. Yet, Fiona had always been careful with taking drugs after Rosie's infamous experience with ecstasy, and the memory of her best friend collapsing onto the floor, her body twitching and sweat pouring off of her face was enough to convince Fiona to do so.

But, still… what Scourge did… he was such a…

"Well, well, well", a voice piped up. Fiona snapped out of her thoughts and looked to her left. There stood a male skunk with blue eyes and a suave haircut and wearing a leather jacket, smirking at Fiona knowingly as he put one hand on his hip and another against the surface of the bar beside him. Fiona groaned, turned back to her original position, and slumped forward towards her drink.

"What do _you_ want?", she demanded. The skunk smirked at her attitude.

"I didn't know that nightclubs were your scene, Fiona", he continued, "Shouldn't you be at home where your Mom can keep an eye on you?"

"Shut _up_, Jeff!", she growled, her grip on her beer bottle tightening. 'Jeff' reached forward and grabbed Fiona's face and made her look at him.

"What's with the _attitude_?", 'Jeff' asked, "I thought you knew me better than that, Fi. After all, we go way back, don't we?"

"I don't _want _to remember!", Fiona sneered, pulling away. 'Jeff' pulled a frightened facial expression and clutched his heart in an exaggerated manner.

"Aw, that hurt!", he sneered, "What happened to my girl, then?"

"I was _never_ your girl!", she shouted, "You just couldn't keep your hands to yourself, remember?"

"_Please_! You were desperate then, and you still are now. Just _look_ at you!", 'Jeff' approached Fiona, placing a hand on one of her legs suggestively, "It's no wonder you're a tease to us guys… just like your Mom-"

Fiona reached out and viciously slapped 'Jeff''s face. 'Jeff' instantly let go of her leg and turned away, clutching his swollen cheek. After taking a moment to register what had happened to him, 'Jeff' turned back and glared at Fiona.

"Right", he snapped sternly, and suddenly grabbed Fiona's arm.

* * *

><p>"Aw, God", Sonic mumbled as he stumbled past several Mobians. It was so obvious that he was a bad liar. His heart rate increased to a point where he could scarcely <em>breathe<em>. Sonic had never felt _this _frightened in his whole life; not even when he had battled Metal Sonic many years ago, where he had to face the terrifying possibility of the Land Of The Sky being destroyed by Dr. Eggman should the hero have failed his mission*****… Sonic simply never _understood _why he _felt_ this way. For crying out loud, he had faced the most terrifying of all events throughout his entire life: fighting against pure chaos*****, facing the Eclipse Cannon colliding into the planet Earth*****, being turned into a freakin' Werehog*****, _even_ travelling into an apocalyptic future due to Dr. Eggman*****… so _why_ did he feel terrified being in the presence of other Mobians whom he had never _met _before? Was there even a _chance_ that they would be threatening towards him? What was the possibility of even _one_ Mobian turning round and aiming handgun at his head…?

"Hey!", one shouted at Sonic, "Watch where you're going, freak!"

"What?", Sonic mumbled, glancing around to find where the voice was coming from through his blurred vision. When he found the direction of the voice, he could just make out a male Mobian glaring at him.

"Is this guy for real?", the Mobian demanded.

"Hey! Stay away from Scourge!", Drago chipped in, shoving the Mobian.

"Hey, stay the fuck out of my way, you little shit!", Sonic snarled, "_Nobody_ messes with _Scourge _- get it?"

He felt awful saying the words, but he _had_ to speak out if he wanted to defend himself. The Mobian seemed to have got the message, and reluctantly moved away from the green hedgehog, muttering to himself. Sonic breathed out, and caught other Mobians glancing at him.

"_What_?", he demanded angrily, his heart racing. The Mobians paused and then resumed their socialising. Sonic smirked. Yep, they got the message, alright. Sonic decided to embrace the moment.

"Get me a beer", he ordered Lightning.

"Ex_cuse _me?", Lightning demanded, "Oh, so now I'm taking _orders_ from you?"

"Hey, we had a deal, Lynxy", Sonic slurred and glanced towards the bar, "Didn't we…", and then he abruptly stopped. Indeed, he had lost faith with his perfect vision right there and then, but he couldn't help but notice some male skunk viciously grabbing a female fox's arm. _Fiona's_ arm, to be exact. He observed the skunk's actions for a few minutes, wondering if the skunk was simply joking around. But then Fiona immediately began to struggle in his grasp, a frightened look on her face. The skunk then hissed something to her… making her tremble as a result.

"Hey", Sonic piped up pointing in their direction, "Whose that guy?"

"Who _cares_?", Rosie remarked and clung to his arm, "Let's go and dance, Scourge"

"Lemme _go_, Rosie!", he snapped, wriggling away from the pink hedgehog, "I need to see if Fiona's alright-"

Rosie shoved Sonic away from her, an envious look on her face.

"It's always about Fiona, isn't it?", she demanded angrily, "What about _me_ for once, eh? What has Fiona got that I haven't?"

"Not now, Rosie!", Sonic slurred, "For God's sake, you are _such_ a fucking pain!-"

"Well, you can go and fuck yourself, you stupid clown!", Rosie screamed back, "_You're_ a fucking pain yourself!", and with that Rosie stomped off, ditching the remaining gang members. Drago and Sleuth guffawed at her performance.

"Dude", Sleuth chortled, patting Sonic's shoulder, "That was epic!"

"I've _never _seen her so pissed off in all the time I've known her!", Drago commented, "You done good, man!"

"What_ever_!", Sonic slurred back, "She had it coming. _Any_way, I'm wanting to know; who's that guy over at the bar with Fiona? The skunk"

"Oooh!", Sleuth joked peering over at the bar, "Why? Are you jealous that he's…", Sleuth suddenly stopped, "… Fuck"

Sonic's legs began to buckle.

"What?", he demanded. Sleuth sighed, looking uncomfortable.

"That guy's called Jeffrey St. Croix-"

Sonic snorted.

"- and he thinks he's God's gift to women. Fiona was in the same care home as him at one point. She… yeah…"

"Look", Drago insisted, "I don't care if Fiona wants to fight her own battles. I'm going in to smash that fucker's face!"

Sonic stared at Drago as he wrestled his way through the busy crowds to approach Fiona and Jeffrey. However, Sleuth still hadn't uncovered the mystery. Sonic turned to Sleuth.

"Dude", Sonic chipped in, "Tell me"

"They…", Sleuth paused, "She told us they were in this relationship when she was a resident there - nothing serious, y'know, she was, like, fourteen and he was sixteen - but… he wanted, like, to go further and she didn't… and…"

"Yeah?"

"Dude, this isn't easy to say, but… he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer… and raped her"

Sonic didn't need encouraging to wipe the look off of Jeffrey's face. Despite his state, Sonic used his speed to zoom straight towards the bar to give Jeffrey a piece of his mind.

* * *

><p>"Well, <em>you've <em>certainly changed your tone now", Jeffrey smirked, his grip on Fiona's arm tightening.

"This isn't funny, Jeff", Fiona stated firmly, "Let _go_ of me!"

"Aw, there's no need to be frigid, Fi", Jeffrey grinned knowingly, "I know you're a bad girl at heart… tell ya what, we'll go somewhere private, and you can show me that you're still the bad girl I once knew"

"I'm _not_ going anywhere with you, ya sick creep!"

"That _wasn't_ a request, y'know-"

Before Jeffrey could continue, a fist came into contact with his face, causing Jeffrey to fall against the bar beside him. Other Mobians at the bar groaned and exclaimed angrily at Jeffrey as the impact of the punch on Jeffrey caused him to knock over their drinks, alcohol spilling over the wooden surface. Jeffrey clutched his face, and turned to the culprit, fuming with anger.

"Have you lost your fucking mind?", he demanded.

"Get away from that girl!", Sonic stated, content that he had managed to reach Jeffrey and Fiona before Drago. Jeffrey peered at him.

"Wha-?", Jeffrey began and turned to Fiona, "Who the fuck is this?"

"He's my boyfriend", Fiona answered straight away, shocking Sonic as well Jeffrey, "His name's Scourge, and he's _dangerous_, so you'd better not mess with him!"

"Yeah", Sonic chipped in straight away, catching onto Fiona's plan, "So if you don't want to humiliate yourself, I suggest you walk away. _Far _away"

"This has nothing to do with you, Greenie", Jeffrey replied, "Me and Fi are old friends, so why don't you leave us be and let us get catch up with old times, 'kay?"

"Yeah, and I'm Dr. Eggman in disguise", Sonic retorted with sarcasm, "Get away from Fiona"

"Or what?", Jeffrey demanded, "You gonna make me, punk?"

"With pleasure", Sonic smirked, cracking his knuckles. Jeffrey smirked and lunged towards Sonic. Sonic instantly dodged Jeffrey's attempted assaults, grabbed Jeffrey's hair and smacked his head against the corner of the bar. Jeffrey cried out. He glared at Sonic, grabbed a beer bottle and smashed it against the bar. The bottle splintered in half, forming into two separate pieces with jagged ends. Without warning, Jeffrey held onto one segment of the broken bottle, and pounced at Sonic, causing the two Mobians to fall onto the floor, wrestling one another. Sonic kneed Jeffrey in the stomach, winding him. Jeffrey exclaimed angrily and aimed the sharp ends of the bottle at Sonic's face. Sonic grabbed his arms and wrestled him, however the side-effects of the pill made his vision become increasingly worse. Sonic didn't know what to make of his vision; it was as though everyone and everything around him divided into various sections, almost like a psychedelic effect. Instead of seeing two arms in front of him that belonged to Jeffrey, Sonic suddenly saw around _four_ arms hovering above him. He was unable to determine if the new arms were real or not, especially when two of them were grasping the broken bottle. Starting to panic, Sonic wriggled desperately underneath Jeffrey, trying to shove the skunk off of him. His limbs suddenly, giving Jeffrey the chance to aim at Sonic. Sonic shut his eyes, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

This was it. This was the end of Scourge.

"_No_!", Sonic heard Fiona's voice echo in the background, and opened his eyes to find Fiona desperately trying to pull Jeffrey away from Sonic through his blurry vision. Jeffrey began to struggle, and tried to elbow Fiona away, his arms flying this way and that. During the process, Sonic felt a stinging sensation on his torso; _two_ to be exact, however he thought nothing of it. Jeffrey leered above him, the jagged end of the bottle facing directly at Sonic's face. Jeffrey raised the bottle further back, ready to stab the bottle into Sonic's face, and grinned knowingly.

"It's a shame I had to do this", Jeffrey stated, "You had so much potential to fight me… ah well!"

Jeffrey tightened his grip on the broken bottle… and suddenly felt somebody stronger than him pulling him away from S_courge_. Drago dragged the skunk away from the green hedgehog.

"What do you _think_ you're doing?", Jeffrey screamed at Drago, "I almost had him!"

"Fuck off, you pathetic piece of shit!", Drago shouted, "Don't mess with Scourge, otherwise you get your ass kicked by _us_!"

Before Jeffrey could protest, Drago handed the skunk over to a security guard, who automatically dragged him away to be questioned by the cops. Jeffrey screamed abuse as he was pulled away.

"Don't think this is over!", he yelled at Sonic, "You haven't heard the last of _me_!"

A deadly silence lurked in the nightclub, to which Mobians gradually began to murmur amongst themselves, glancing at Sonic. Some, however, praised his performance as Sonic was pulled back onto his feet with help from Fiona.

"Hey, buddy", a male rabbit called out to Sonic, "Nice one. I didn't like the look of him, anyway"

"Yeah, it was great that you jumped in!", a female hawk piped up, "Who knows what could have happened if you didn't stop him!"

Sonic felt overwhelmed with pride, then suddenly retorted. He was _Scourge_ for crying out loud! He wasn't _meant_ to save others; _Scourge_ was suppose to fill their hearts with _fear_ and make them feel intimidated.

"Yeah", Fiona grinned, "Nice one, Scourge"

Although Sonic wanted to be seen as tough and scary, seeing Fiona smile at him made the battle somewhat worthwhile. Sonic smirked back and stepped forward, and suddenly hissed in pain. He clutched at the stinging sensation on his torso through his t-shirt, and then pulled his hand away. There on his glove were two bloody stains. Sonic peered at the stains and then looked at his t-shirt, where he found two identical dark stains. He was unable to tell if the drug was still taking an effect on him, for he began to feel very drowsy, even more so than he had felt earlier that night.

"What…?", he mumbled, a metallic taste filling his mouth.

"Scourge?", Fiona asked, "What's - _shit_! Somebody, call an ambulance! He's been stabbed!"

Hysteria broke out around the two Mobians as the crowds exclaimed at the sight of the blood, _Scourge's_ drowsiness, and simply at the entire fiasco that had taken place that night. Regardless of their mutual hatred towards one another, Lightning had taken charge of calling an ambulance on his cell phone. Fiona panicked as Sonic's legs began to buckle, causing him to fall into the floor, clutching his torso. Fiona crouched down beside him and held onto his free hand.

"You're gonna be okay, Scourge", she reassured him, "Just hang in there and-"

It was too late. Before Fiona could finish her sentence, Sonic was already out of the count.


	9. Confrontation

**Hi guys!**

**I am very, very, VERY sorry about the EXTREMELY long delay in my writing :( the coursework at my univeristy had been very demanding leading up to Christmas. THEN I had to focus on Christmas with the shopping, working overtime, visiting family and THEN it was revision for my exams... needless to say my writing remained neglected up until now lol!**

**However, I DID receive reviews via email so any readers who felt as though their reviews had been neglected, I would like to stress that I did receive them and read them, and I thank my readers for their positve feedback :D.**

**I will try to update more often from now on, and I thank my readers for their patience.**

**Happy reading!**

**~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**

* * *

><p>He wasn't alone. He could feel somebody watching him. Sonic dithered on the spot as he focussed on the dark corridor in front of him. Regardless of the fact that he had a reputation as a hero, he couldn't help but feel wary. And somehow… his feet began to move forwards towards the intimidating darkness. His conscience screamed at him to do otherwise, but he couldn't stop himself. It felt as though he was on the verge of a significant discovery, as though he couldn't bear to miss out on what could be the opportunity of a life-time…<p>

Sonic held his breath as he stumbled towards what felt like an endless pathway that lured him towards the darkness. He had to be dreaming; he _had_ to be! There was no possible way that he would have been able to stand up, let alone walk, properly after his stomach had been slashed by that stupid skunk. And if that was the case, why did he wake up in a dismal, grim, unusual place by himself rather than waking up in a hospital ward full of doctors and nurses? Sonic smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, shaking his head slightly. He had to be dreaming; either that or he was dead…

A sudden thought came to his attention.

"Eggman!", Sonic shouted into the darkness as he paced forward, "If this is one of your stupid tricks, I'm not falling for it! Come on out, you coward!"

Nothing. Not even a whimper could be detected within the darkness. Sonic stopped abruptly and swallowed nervously. He really wasn't expecting anyone to respond to him, but the intense silence began to infuriate him. No, _terrify_ him. Sonic felt beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead, his breathing becoming rapid as each agonizing second went by. There was somebody watching him; he could _feel_ it. It was as though the unknown was lurking all around him, _leering_ at the trembling hedgehog, ready to attack Sonic when he would least expect it…

It was too much. Sonic felt his legs begin to quiver with anxiety. Then he scoffed, placing his hands on his hips. He was Sonic the Hedgehog, for God's sake! He wasn't afraid of anything! If he could take on the deadliest robots built by Dr. Eggman, he could take on anyone. _Anyone_. So… why did he suddenly feel claustrophobic? What _was_ it about this dismal place that the blue hero react in such a way?

"I said _come on out_!", he screamed loudly, raking one hand through his quills desperately. Then, out of nowhere, he heard it. Heard them. A muffled cry echoed towards his direction, followed by what he considered was an evil cackle. Sonic's first instinct was to find the victim in distress and rescue them. He began to run towards the direction of the shouting, and then stopped. When was he going to learn to stop helping others and to look out for number one? He always helped Mobians during dangerous times, but when were they going to return the favour? Wouldn't _Scourge_ do that?

More painful cries escaped from the victim. Sonic winced; he really wanted to run off in the other direction, but his hero-persona got the better of him. He _had_ to help the Mobian in need. He just _had _to…

Before he knew it, Sonic found his feet running towards the sounds, his eyes darting left-and-right, looking for any tell-tale signs or any clues from where the cries were coming from. Slowing down, Sonic began to feel doubtful, wondering if the sounds were just his imagination. Sonic closed his eyes despairingly, and then re-opened them… and gasped. Directly in front of him was a male skunk lying in a crumpled heap on the ground, his torso being viciously kicked by another Mobian wearing a leather jacket, their back turned to Sonic. Sonic's eyes widened. On the ground, in excruciating pain, was Jeffrey St. Croix.

"Hey!", Sonic shouted, moved towards the Mobian attacking the skunk and planted a firm grip on the Mobian's shoulder, "Yo! You can't-"

He stopped abruptly when the mysterious Mobian spun around and glared at him. Sonic was at loss for words when he discovered that the Mobian… was _Scourge_.

"Wh-what?", Sonic whispered, his grip on Scourge loosened, "But… how… you-"

Scourge simply smirked at Sonic's reaction and returned his attention to Jeff, concluding his assault with one final kick in Jeff's torso. Jeff wheezed hoarsely before falling silent, his body unresponsive. Scourge relaxed slightly and calmly spat at Jeff's fragile physique. Sonic stared at Jeff, and the shock within his system was quickly replaced with hatred towards the green hedgehog. Sonic lunged towards Scourge, his hand curled into a fist ready to strike Scourge in the face, quickly back-fired as Scourge grabbed Sonic's wrist and twisted it painfully. Sonic exclaimed in pain. In response, Scourge struck Sonic's face with his free elbow, causing Sonic to instantly fall to the ground. Before Sonic had the opportunity to defend himself, Scourge grabbed Sonic by his shoulders and sneered at the injured hedgehog.

"Call yourself a criminal!", Scourge growled, "You're such a faker it's unreal!"

"Wh-what?", Sonic croaked as he attempted to regain himself. Scourge approached Sonic within seconds and viciously grabbed Sonic's quills, forcing Sonic back onto his knees so that he had no choice but to stare at Jeff's limp body a few feet away from him. Sonic struggled, however Scourge had kept a firm grip on him.

"Make a decision!", Scourge demanded, "You're either with them, or against them! You can't be both a hero and a criminal at the same time!"

"What are you _talking _about?", Sonic snapped angrily, hissing at the stinging sensation from his quills.

"Don't be naïve! When will you learn that helping other Mobians will only land you in more trouble?"

"Oh", Sonic retorted, "So I've only to listen to _you_ now?", he snorted, "This is stupid; you're not even _real_! You're just a stupid persona I made up"

"So you'd rather listen to the Mobians who turned against you and let them treat you like shit?", Scourge demanded and instantly let go of Sonic's quills, allowing the blue hedgehog to fall forwards onto the ground once more.

"You're too forgiving", Scourge continued, "You think that the planet is all sunshine and smiles, and that being the 'hero' will make everything better and that everyone will treat you with the upmost respect because of it; making them desperate to be your friend because – let's face it – _you_'ll always be there to lend them a helping hand"

Sonic remained silent. Scourge had a point; there was no simple answer to his statement.

"But when you eventually decide to croak, who's going to be there for _you_?", Scourge pointed out. Sonic scoffed, growing impatient as he scrabbled onto his feet once more. He turned around to glare at Scourge, his hands on his hips.

"What are you _talking_ about?", Sonic demanded.

"Remember whenever you saved Mobians when Eggman threatened their lives, and how they were so _grateful _for your help that they devoted their lives to worship you? How they praised your heroism and treated you like a God? How they promised to return the favour one day whenever you'd be in trouble?", Scourge commented. He then leaned forward towards Sonic, arms folded, "And the _one _time you completely fuck things up, what do they do…?"

Sonic didn't answer Scourge's answer. He didn't need to.

"They completely backstabbed you and branded you a murderer", Scourge sneered.

"Right! Fine! I get it!", Sonic snapped impatiently, "I've been screwed over! Tell me something I don't already know!"

"But let's also not forget your number one fan!", Scourge continued, ignoring Sonic's infuriated grunt, "This bitch who loved and worshipped you so much and would have gone as far as fucking _marrying _you… put a restraining order on you and didn't bother defending you-"

"Right!", Sonic snapped, "I got the message the first time around!"

"And _then_ there's your so-called 'little bro' who simply threw you in the gutter to-"

"_That's enough_!", Sonic roared and immediately lunged at Scourge. Scourge responded quickly and twisted Sonic's arm, putting him in an arm-lock. Sonic hissed at the pain and began to struggle. But even his poor attempt to defend himself couldn't prevent Scourge's words slipping into his ears.

"If you're gonna act like the 'hero' and run after everyone else, then they'll just take you for granted and use you again and again without returning the favour", Scourge stated, "It's time for you to show them who's the boss around here; to gain their fear and respect… it's time for you to get in touch with your darker side"

Sonic felt his arm suddenly being released. He exhaled as he felt the blood circulate back into his arm, turned round to confront Scourge… only to find nobody there but himself. He spun this way and that… but there was nobody there. When he looked up, Sonic discovered mirrors placed on the walls of the corridors; each mirror consisting of his reflection. Sonic glanced intimidatingly at them, awaiting anything to occur.

He looked to the mirrors on his left; his reflection imitated his every move and facial expressions. He looked to the mirrors his right; his reflection, instead of copying his movements, stood laughing at him in an intimidating manner whilst voices echoed, "Hero or criminal, hero or criminal, hero or criminal…"

Stunned, Sonic took off at – what he thought was – the speed of sound; his heart racing, sweat forming on his face, tears of panic and confusion forming in his eyes as he zoomed into the stretched darkness. The confrontation had been extremely overwhelming, but his alter-ego had a point; either way, Sonic had to decide who's side he was going to be on: either he faced the reality of serving as the 'hero' who would automatically help selfish Mobians… or get his revenge. Of course, Sonic didn't want to even consider the idea of his entire life devoting his assistance to others as a complete waste, but… Mobians really _did_ take him for granted. And… the idea of becoming much more assertive towards others _did_ sound appealing.

Yet, who was he, exactly?

The hero… or the villain…?

A bright light began to form in front of the blue hedgehog as he continued to run. Sonic peered at the light, unable to stop his legs in motion. It remained unclear whether the bright light indicated death or was simply a hallucination, but his curiosity became the better of him.

Sonic took a deep breath.

_He ran towards the light…_

* * *

><p>Sonic flinched as he allowed the bright light to slip through the small openings of his eyelids. Hissing at the impact, Sonic blinked, allowing his eyesight to focus on his surroundings; a bright, pristine room consisting of basic furniture including a bed which Sonic found himself to be tucked in, medical charts, machinery, and a female Mobian nurse scribbling notes on a clipboard, her back turned to him. When the realisation hit him that he was in hospital, Sonic sighed softly and nestled into the soft pillows behind him, attempting to recall what had happened to him.<p>

Then the memories of Jeffrey St. Croix came flooding back to him. The idea that he had failed to knock the living daylights out of the stupid skunk caused Sonic's blood to boil, forcing him to wrestle out of the crisp sheets of the bed.

_God_, Sonic thought, _If Jeffrey was here, right now, I'd smack his stupid teeth in and-_

"Whoa, whoa!", the nurse, a turquoise hawk, exclaimed in a soft, Irish accent as she placed her hands firmly on Sonic's shoulders, forcing him back into bed, "Easy does it, now"

"Don't stop me!", he demanded, "I need to get even with that fucking skunk!"

"There's no skunk here", the nurse reassured him, "You're perfectly safe, I assure you"

"But you don't understand", Sonic protested as he struggled out of his bed, " I need to-", he stopped abruptly, hissing at the pain that soared from his chest.

"Take it easy!", the nurse commanded and then sighed, "Well, it's no wonder you're in pain; you've just had your stitches put in"

"_Stitches_?", Sonic repeated, and pulled up his gown, only to discover two ugly, jagged scars that stretched across his chest, both consisting of tender flesh and thick, black threads. Sonic stared at them with horror and peered at the nurse, his heart racing.

"Wha… what happened to me?", he cried, "What's going on?"

"Calm down, now", the nurse cooed, "Can you remember what happened to you?"

"I just…", Sonic swallowed nervously, fighting the urge to vomit, "There was this guy who was being a jerk to Fiona, and w-we got into a fight… all I remember was fighting him a-and then I felt something cut my chest and-"

The nurse nodded as she plumped his pillows, "You were in critical condition when you arrived here; your lady friend told us that the Mobian had slashed your stomach with a piece of glass, and you had lost a lot of blood by that point. We thought you weren't going to make it!"

"Mm", Sonic replied. The near-death experience had terrified him to the core; the idea that the ex-hero of Mobius, who had spent many years fighting and destroying life-threatening robots, had nearly died simply due to a few cuts on the chest forced him to wake up to reality; causing him to realise how unpredictable life could be. The nurse took note of his facial expression and added softly, "Your lady friend is outside. Would you like to see her?"

"Fi's here?", he croaked.

"Absolutely", the nurse smiled, "Poor girl was worried for you; she sat by your side as we examined you", then her smile vanished, "but she had a bit of a panic attack when we examined your eyes and found out you were wearing contact lenses – we had to ask her to leave the room for a bit-"

"_Why_ did you do that?", Sonic shouted. The nurse jumped at his reaction, her hands gripping her clipboard.

"She had trouble breathing and she tried to interfere with our examination, so we had no choice but to remove her from the room", she explained softly, "Don't worry, we had a nurse to see to her and provide emotional support"

"No, you moron!", Sonic spat, "Why did you remove my contacts?"

"It's a medical procedure", the hawk stated firmly, "We must follow the procedure to determine whether or not you're in a conscious state. I know those silly contact lenses are meant to be fun, but it makes our jobs even more difficult-"

"B-but", Sonic spluttered, "What about Fiona? What did she say?", the idea that Fiona had sussed out he had been lying about his identity terrified him. She was going to murder him. No, worse: Tikal would most likely become involved. Much worse: he would be arrested for violating his restraining order. From the way things looked, Sonic decided he may as well bid farewell to his freedom… or his life for that matter.

"Let me get her for you" the nurse smiled and went to the door, opening it slightly and whispered. The peace ended abruptly as Fiona furiously marched into the room towards the confused hedgehog, shouting as she did so.

"… not until after I smash this stupid fucker's face in!", she screamed at the top of her voice, ignoring the nurse who quickly followed her, trying to hold Fiona back.

"Please control yourself, my dear, or we'll remove you from the premises", she coaxed Fiona, "There's no need to get your knickers in a twist!"

"_What_?", Fiona screamed, her cheeks pink with rage, "Do you even _realise _what this asshole's done to me? _Do _you?"

"Now, now", the nurse soothed, "I'm sure it can't be that bad!"

"Just as I thought", Fiona snapped angrily, "I knew you wouldn't understand. I knew _none_ of you would understand the pain this has caused me! I _knew _it!"

"Okay, just take a deep breath, and relax", the nurse advised. Fiona huffed and crossed her arms.

"Oh my God", she snarled, "It's like talking to a three-year-old!"

"Fi?", Sonic piped up cautiously. Fiona focussed her attention on him and sped towards him. She reached out to grab his throat, only to be held back by the nurse. Another nurse entered the room and assisted in preventing Fiona from harming Sonic; both hands firmly planted on Fiona's left arm.

"I bet you had a laugh at my expense, yeah?", Fiona shouted, "Convincing me that you were the most dangerous Mobian on the fucking planet, when all along you were that blue blur loser who had every Mobian kissing up to you because of your heroic acts! I bet you listened to what I had told you about my past, and laughed about it behind my back, because _your _life is _so_ perfect with your _perfect_ reputation and your _perfect_ family and friends!"

"I can explain-", Sonic tried to chip in, but failed.

"I trusted you!", she cried, "I thought you were the one Mobian who understood what I was going through, and for once in my life I felt like I wasn't alone", Fiona paused for breath, tears streaming down her face, "All my life I've had family and friends backstab me and lie to my face, and for once I thought I had found somebody I could relate to; somebody who was an outcast and was misunderstood by others…somebody who would have made a difference in my life and helped me trust other Mobians…", Fiona glared at him, shaking her head slightly, "But I was wrong. You're just like the rest of them. You're fake. You're like _everybody else_"

"No, Fiona, you don't understand", Sonic sat up on his bed, but then doubled over in pain, clutching his stitches.

"I hope it fucking hurt you, just like you hurt _me_!", Fiona shouted at him.

"What about the Jeffrey guy?", Sonic croaked as he gently rubbed his stomach, "Aren't you going to thank me for saving you?"

"_You still lied to me_!", Fiona screamed at the top of her lungs.

"… excuse me", a voice whispered at the door. Sonic looked past Fiona and found Tikal standing at the doorway wearing a suit and holding a briefcase. Tikal glanced at Fiona and nodded wanly at her before approaching Sonic. Fiona shook her head in despair.

"And who the fuck is this?", Fiona demanded furiously, "Your secret girlfriend?"

The very idea of having Tikal for a girlfriend was enough for Sonic to splutter with laughter. He didn't mean to, considering the situation, but he couldn't help but find the accusation humorous.

"And you're _laughing_!", Fiona shouted, "Is there anything else you haven't told me? Are you bald? Do you have a twin? Are you an undercover pervert who gets his kicks by video-taping on me or stalking me?"

"What?", Sonic replied, confused, but then shook his head, "No, look, Fi-"

"You know what?", Fiona continued, "I've had it with your lying. I thought you'd have learned by now that I _hate_ liars and I _hate_ backstabbers", she paused and stated in a stern voice, "I hate you, and I never want to see you again... Never. Never. Never. _Never. NEVER! NEVER!_", her voice rose with anxiety and anger as she repeated the word over and over again, more tears streaming down her face. The nurses gently manoeuvred Fiona out of the room, the volume of her voice gradually declining as she was escorted out of the ward. A deathly silence was left behind from her outburst. Tikal breathed out cautiously as she sat down beside Sonic's bed.

"I think she's made her point", she muttered.

"I'd thought… I'd thought she'd be okay with…", Sonic struggled to find the right words. Tikal shook her head bitterly.

"No", she stated, "And don't expect her to get over it easily. It may take her months before she'd be able to trust anyone again"

"Oh, what do _you_ know?", Sonic snapped, "Look, I know she's had a tough time in the past, but life goes on"

"She's well known in Social Services", Tikal informed him, "Fiona's been to a lot of therapy sessions in the past, and what you've just done has caused her to throw away years of therapy and release her true potential. It's not pretty, let me tell you"

"Will… will she be okay?", Sonic asked timidly. Tikal shrugged.

"It's hard to tell at this stage", she commented, "She might recover. She might not"

"I need to see if she's okay", Sonic insisted as he stood up. However, Tikal held onto his arm, preventing him from leaving the room.

"She'll be fine. We've contacted her social worker to come and collect her", Tikal reassured him, "_You_, on the other hand, will remain here until you're fully recovered. All I know just now is that the police will escort you home when you're discharged from the ward. Then _we'll _contact _you_ about when you're due back in court in order to evaluate your current situation. All I can say at this moment of time is that what you did was _not _smart!"

"What?", Sonic asked, "Why? How did they know it was me?"

"When police officers arrived at the nightclub to investigate the scene of the crime, paramedics were placing your body onto a stretcher", Tikal explained as she opened her briefcase and flipped through a collection of documents, "One of the officers at the investigation instantly recognised you. Said something about you being under his surveillance before the incident…"

Sonic closed his eyes with dismay. _The officer outside his apartment!_

"… and I spoke to the doctors", Tikal continued as she got out a pen, "They took the officer's details into account as they examined you. Apparently Fiona began to question what was going on, so when the doctors removed your jacket and t-shirt to inspect your wounds and your contact lenses, she put two-and-two together"

"I… I thought my disguise worked", Sonic mumbled as he gently rubbed his torso, allowing his fingers to trace the thick threads. Tikal held her breath briefly and then exhaled slowly.

"You tried", she reassured him, "But Fiona isn't stupid. Neither is anybody else. The green dye in your blue fur doesn't work. I mean, _everybody _on this planet knows what you look like, so there really wasn't any point trying in the first place"

"Mm"

"Right", Tikal began as she shuffled her documents, "I may as well get this out the road. I take it you haven't been looking for a job since I last saw you?"

"Wha… why are you bringing this up now?", Sonic demanded, exasperated, "This is stupid. I need to talk to Fiona. Where is she?"

"I haven't a clue", Tikal answered, and then added with a mutter, "Not that you'd care anyway"

But Sonic heard her.

"I _do _care about her!", he protested, sitting up in his bed, "I saved her from that Jeffrey St. Croix! He was harassing her!"

"Well, _you_ shouldn't have lied to her to that extent!", Tikal protested, pointing her pen at the frustrated hedgehog, "What you did to Fiona will psychologically damage her for the time being! I can't believe this, Sonic, we've been _very_ fair to you regarding this restraining order: we had given you everything to help you start a new life, and we warned you about the consequences of violating the restraining order-"

"I did my best!", Sonic argued, "Do you think it's easy creating a new identity whilst the cops are spying on you?"

"Well, impersonating a gangster or some psychotic killer isn't exactly a great way of doing so! Couldn't you have pretended to be a _normal_ Mobian?", Tikal snapped, forgetting to be professional, "My God, Sonic, you just _had _to take this 'new identity' thing to a whole new level, didn't you?"

"Well, what did you expect me to do when that bastard skunk was harassing Fiona?"

"Oh, I don't know Sonic", Tikal replied with sarcasm, "How about simply _talking _to him?"

"Actions speak louder than words, Tikal!"

"Right", Tikal snapped, "This discussion ends _now_! We won't speak another word about this"

"Fuck this!", Sonic retorted and climbed out of his bed, hissing at the staining sensation from his torso, and made for the door.

"Get back here, Sonic", she ordered, "Get back here. _Right_. _Now_."

"I don't need to listen to you!", Sonic immediately retorted as he opened the door, "I'm Scourge the hedgehog, and nobody tells _me _what to do!"

Tikal's eyes widened as she came to realisation that Sonic was intending to leave the hospital ward after all. She sprang out of her chair and managed to reach him at the door. Tikal grabbed Sonic's arm to prevent him from leaving the room.

"Sonic, what are you talking about?", she gabbled desperately, "What's going on? Who's Scourge?"

Sonic spun round and grabbed her arm that gripped his own. Without warning, Sonic twisted her arm, causing Tikal to cry out in pain, release her grip on his arm and collapse onto the floor.

"Just you wait", he continued, "One day I'm going to make this planet _mine_, and _then _I'll get my revenge on those who lost faith in me… but if you want to live, I suggest you stay here and keep quiet about me… or you'll live to regret it – got it?"

"Yes", Tikal whimpered, exclaiming at her twisted arm.

"Good", Sonic stated and let go of her arm.

However, Tikal did not keep her word. Sonic only managed to exit the room, only to hear Tikal shout from behind, "Stop him! He's a fugitive!"

Infuriated, Sonic spun round and shoved her back into the room. Tikal wrestled him and attempted to escape the room, but only managed to grip the doorframe with one hand.

"What did I say?", Sonic shouted, "What did I just say?"

And with that, Sonic grabbed the door and slammed it shut, wincing at the sound of Tikal screaming in pain as he slammed the door on her fingers. Yet, he couldn't stop there. Sonic opened the door slightly and viciously slammed it shut on Tikal's fingers once more, feeling his anger being quickly replaced with satisfaction as he heard bones breaking, from the force of the door, in Tikal's injured hand. Exhaling, Sonic turned to find police officers and nurses running towards him, heckling him as they did so.

"Hey!", an officer shouted, "Stop right there!"

"Oh yeah?", Sonic remarked with a grin, "You gonna make me?"

The police officers ran towards the blue hedgehog, intending to capture him. However, Sonic managed to defend himself by running towards them and tackled the oncoming officers and medical staff with a spin attack, causing the group of Mobians to collide into the corridor walls and medical equipment surrounding them. Satisfied, Sonic took off at rapid speed, as he kept an eye out for a female fox. He zipped through each individual corridor until he caught sight of a female fox wearing dark clothing, arguing with a male rabbit wearing a suit. This was his chance; Sonic had to clear the tension between the two of them. If he had to be perfectly honest with himself, he really enjoyed Fiona's company when they got together; as though there was actually chemistry occurring between them. The idea that Fiona hated him made Sonic feel awful; the only Mobian who understood _his _emotional pain no longer wanted to be associated with him. He panicked at the possibility of being on his own once again…

Sonic held his breath. He had one opportunity to do this. Sonic focussed on Fiona and presumably her social worker and sped towards them. Without warning, Sonic ran past them, grabbing Fiona in the process and carrying her over his shoulder. The sudden action panicked Fiona.

"Wha… Get _off _of me!", she screamed angrily and immediately began to wriggle out of his grasp, but Sonic kept a firm grip on her, "Let me _go,_ you bastard!"

"You're not going anywhere", Sonic stated firmly, ignoring Fiona as she began to beat his back with both her fists, "We need to talk"

And with that, Sonic dodged visitors and patients at the main entrance, and took off into the city.


	10. Sympathy And Empathy

**Further details about my progress can be found on my profile. Apologies for the delay and the rushed A/N, and many thanks for the reviews and emails concerning my progress and updating 'Through The Looking Glass' :)**

**Regards,**

**Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**

**A/N: *As seen in episode 1 of 'Sonic X'**

* * *

><p>Sonic knew he couldn't keep up the chase forever; it was only a matter of time before either the cops would be on his tail or that Fiona would become too much of a hassle for him to carry over his shoulder. He had only been running for a few seconds, and yet he instantly felt irritated towards the female fox whom relentlessly screamed abuse at him whilst she punched his back with her fists and kicked at his torso with one foot. Sonic immediately cried out and stopped abruptly as Fiona's foot came into contact with one of his scars. He doubled over, exclaiming in both anger and pain.<p>

"_Jesus_!", he roared in pain, "Has it slipped your mind at all that I've _only just _had my stomach sewn back together?"

"You deserve it, you asswipe!", she shouted as she wrestled from his grasp, "I'm not joking around here – let me _go _or I swear to God I'll rip your fugly head off!"

Sonic winced at the throbbing pain from his chest, and slowly stood back up as he breathed in and out, carefully inspecting his scars; the skin surrounding the scars were bright pink with inflammation due to Fiona's assault. He noticed Fiona's foot hovering near his chest once more and shoved it aside, careful not to let go of her.

"Cut it out!", he commanded, and breathed out… only to hear the faint wail of a police siren in the distance. Sonic swore under his breath and rubbed his forehead with his free hand. It was clearly obvious that that day was going to be the worst day of his life… so far…

"Don't tell _me _what to do!", Fiona shouted, "Don't you _ever _tell me what to do! I'll scream and shout and kick and punch you all I want until you let me go!"

"Do you want the cops to find us?", he argued.

"_Yes_!", she screeched, and began to claw at his back with her fingers, hoping to annoy him to the extent where Sonic would get sick of her behaviour and happily discard her in order to get some peace and quiet…

Unfortunately, Sonic remained strong and determined. He exhaled slowly in order to calm himself down, and tightened his grip on Fiona, who angrily protested in response. He was simply desperate to escape from the cops and have a serious talk with Fiona in private; Sonic knew very well that he couldn't go back to his apartment, for it would be the first place the cops would go to search for him. Only a fool would do that. His only option was to seek refuge in a random building and risk facing the cops along the way.

"Now here's how we're going to do things", Sonic negotiated, "I'll decide where to go and we'll go there, hide from the cops and have our private chat, and I promise not to lay a finger on you… only _if _youcalm yourself down and stop hitting me – agreed?"

"_What_?", Fiona cried.

"Tik-tok, Fi", he commented as the police sirens gradually became louder, "I haven't got all day"

"Are you out of your-"

"Right, that's it", Sonic declared as he caught sight of a police cruiser driving near them, "I'm pushed for time and I'm going to start running soon – have you made up your mind yet?"

"I won't!", Fiona insisted. Sonic shrugged slightly.

"Fine", he argued, "Rebel against me. Argue with me all you want. I'll just use my imagination to punish you when we're finally alone and out of sight from other Mobians"

"… You wouldn't _dare_!", she hissed.

"Well", Sonic retorted, "That depends - now, are you going to behave?"

Fiona paused slightly. When she took into account Sonic's strength, enhanced stability and senses she came to realisation that regardless of her efforts to escape from him, she was literally a rag doll compared to Sonic as far as abilities were concerned. After all, the hedgehog had taken on monsters and robots, for crying out loud!

Fiona paused. She wanted to resist his stubbornness… but ultimately failed. After all, she knew what Sonic was capable of; she would do _anything_ to stop herself from getting hurt.

"Alright", she mumbled in defeat, "Fine… I'll calm down"

Sonic didn't waste any time. Without warning, he sped out into the main street and continued running and dodging pedestrians and oncoming traffic. He hesitated slightly when he noticed a line of police cruisers barricading his path. It was clearly obvious that somebody had tipped the word of him escaping from the hospital. Fiona, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to what was happening until she overheard a police officer state through a microphone: "We've got you surrounded, Hedgehog – stop immediately and let go of the girl if you know what's good for ya"

Although she agreed to keep her mouth zipped, Fiona grabbed the opportunity to claim sanctuary.

"Oh, thank God!", Fiona screamed, "Thank God! _Save me from this maniac_!"

"I thought we had an agreement!", Sonic argued, and rolled his eyes. Of course, it _was _Fiona he was dealing with – she _was_ most likely to rebel against him, considering. The officers surrounding them began to close in on them. Sonic noticed that a number of the officers were carrying guns, and decided that he wasn't having any of it. He focussed on the road behind the line of police cruisers, planted his feet firmly into the ground, and leant towards the approaching police officers He only had one chance at this…

Sonic took off and sped towards the barricade. Fortunately for him, he was too quick for the police officers and managed to dodge those who got in his way. Smirking, Sonic quickened his pace… and managed to jump over the line of police cruisers without colliding into them. His actions caused him to briefly reminisce of his first encounter on Earth where the police barricaded the highway to prevent him from running through, and how it only took Sonic one simple leap into the air to get past them*. Sonic smirked at the memory of how the humans were in awe when Sonic leapt gracefully past the cruisers and sped off into the horizon.

Then again, that was then and this was now. These police officers knew Sonic very well through his heroic deeds and knew his trademark abilities and weaknesses. Sonic knew that one false move would result in devastation.

Despite this, he successfully dodged collisions into the police cruisers and continued to run down the road. Fiona, on the other hand, was at loss for words as she stared at the bewildered police officers cursing and climbing into available vehicles to catch up with them. She badly wanted to hate Sonic, but… man she could feel the adrenaline pumping through her body. God, it was so _exciting_! Fiona didn't want to openly admit it, but she had always _longed_ for this sort of excitement in her life. Inwardly, she gasped; could it be that she was privately _enjoying_ all of this…?

"Where do you live?", Sonic suddenly asked.

"What?", Fiona mumbled, snapping back into reality.

"I don't have time to fool around, Fi!", Sonic snapped, "What's your address?"

"Why can't we go back to yours?"

"Have you had a brain transplant within the last couple of minutes?", Sonic cried, "The fuzz are after me! And everyone knows that the first place the cops'll go to is the criminal's hideout! Duh!"

"Alright!", Fiona snapped back, "There's no need to be fucking sarcastic!", she huffed as Sonic sped past pedestrians, "We can't go back to my place either"

"Well, where do you suggest we go?", Sonic cried desperately. Fiona snorted rudely.

"And I thought you were the almighty Sonic the Hedgehog!", she retorted, "I thought you knew all the secret hideouts throughout Mobius! Why do you want my help?"

"Hey. I've only had to few minutes to improvise, alright?", Sonic snapped angrily. God, he _badly_ wanted to chuck Fiona onto the sidewalk, but at what cost? Sonic knew that if he did that Fiona would find a way to sabotage and expose his alter-ego; she would probably backstab him by spreading rumours that he wasn't the supposed bad-ass that he made himself out to be and boast about her ability to manipulate Mobians… _particularly _Scourge the Hedgehog.

"D'arrgh!", Sonic exclaimed, "Fuck this! I'll decide along the way!"

"What?", Fiona cried, "Wait, I-"

Before she could continue, Sonic increased his speed up to 700 mph as he zoomed through the streets; deliberately running around in circles as to confuse the cops whilst Fiona protested loudly from the back. Once he had skimmed through the streets several times, Sonic gave in and kept an eye out for potential hide-outs for both Mobians. He followed his instincts by randomly selecting a building. Sonic held his breath and ran up the side of the building. He noticed an abandoned apartment where one window had been left open and immediately sought refuge.

"Stop, _please_!", Fiona shrieked, "I'm gonna spew!"

"Calm your jets!", Sonic protested, "We're here!", and screeched to a halt. When he shrugged Fiona off of his shoulder, he noticed that Fiona's complexion had turned into an interesting shade of green. Fiona scrambled to her feet and began to heave loudly, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Sonic rolled his eyes at her exaggerated performance. Then he remembered the police searching for their hideout and grabbed Fiona's arm. Fiona shrieked loudly.

"Shh!", he hissed, "We've got to keep a low profile, got it?"

And with that, Sonic manoeuvred them both underneath the window and against the wall. Fiona, in response, began to panic for not only was she in the presence of a potential lunatic or rapist, but she was completely unaware of her surroundings; she _had _to know where the exits were, or else… or else…

"I wanna get out of here", she whimpered, "I gonna be sick! Please, _please _don't do anything you'll-"

"Keep _quiet_!", Sonic hissed, "And keep still, yeah?"

"Y-you won't do anything, w-will you?", she stammered fearfully, tears forming in her eyes.

"Well, if I do then we'll both know it's because you won't _shut up_!", he muttered angrily. Fiona sniffled fearfully and nodded.

"Now", Sonic continued, "Stay up against the wall, stay quiet, and don't cause havoc… got it?"

Fiona nodded fearfully and leant against the wall, and remained silent. Sonic held his breath as he listened to the streets outside, anticipating the worst. He felt his heart race as they both heard police sirens gradually increase… and then gradually fade away. Sonic saw Fiona open her mouth and angrily shook his head at her. Fiona closed her mouth abruptly. They remained silent as the noise made by police cruisers and helicopters gradually faded in time. Sonic closed his eyes and anticipated the worst; helicopters revealing them both, the SWAT team breaking into the apartment and arresting him, tear gas thrown into the apartment and suffocating them both…

And yet, although his imagination ran his sanity wild, as time progressed, nothing happened…

Sonic strained his ears to listen to the activities occurring outside in the streets; Mobians arguing, car horns beeping, jet planes soaring across the skies whilst travelling to foreign countries… But no noteworthy sirens, no helicopters, no SWAT teams…

Sonic breathed out slowly. This encouraged Fiona to hyperventilate.

"I think we're safe now", he commented. Fiona began to scramble away from him, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"O-okay", she stammered fearfully, "You made your point in… w-whatever you were trying to prove… just please, _please_ don't do anything, okay?"

"Right", Sonic continued, "Now that we're alone, we have to talk"

"Alright", Fiona whimpered as she continued to scuttle away from him, "I-I didn't mean what I said! I was angry, okay? I just f-felt betrayed, a-and I was pissed off at you", she swallowed nervously and curled up, hugging her legs, "I'll take everything back, just d-don't do anything you'll regret!"

"What?", Sonic questioned and shook his head, "No! _No_! I'm not going to attack you or anything, I swear!"

"… R-really?", Fiona whimpered, shivering.

"No, look Fi", Sonic argued and kept his distance to prove his point, "I understand why you're so pissed at me… God, _I'd_ be pissed if somebody lied to me like I did to you", he paused, "It wasn't right… and I'm sorry"

A brief pause followed between them. Fiona was the first to break it.

"But… _why_?", she croaked, "I mean… you knew about what's happened to me in the past… what _possessed _you to think it was okay to lie to me like that? How did you think I would react?"

"I didn't…", Sonic paused, "… believe-"

"You never believe me did you?", she cried angrily, "You thought I was making it up as I went along, didn't you?"

"What?", Sonic cried, "No! I _did_ believe you! I-"

"You thought that since I came across as some psycho from a disturbed background, that I'd automatically lie about being fucking sensitive to others lying to me?", she snapped, "I-I thought…"

"Thought what?", Sonic persisted.

"I… I thought I could trust you", Fiona closed her eyes and new tears formed and rolled down her cheeks, "I thought I'd found someone who had been through the same ordeal as me; who was misunderstood and treated badly by others and didn't trust _anybody_… I actually trusted you more than my own therapist – do you even _realise_ how much of a big deal that is to me?", and with that she began to sob uncontrollably, "But I was wrong", she continued, "It made me realise how alone I really am on this planet… I can't trust my own mom, my friends, my therapist… or even you"

"Well…", Sonic paused, "What did you expect me to say? Something like, 'Oh, hi! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog who committed mass murder and was given a new identity to hide from the public who want me dead, but don't tell anyone, it's a secret!' – what did you _expect _me to do, Fi? I had no other choice but to make up a fake identity!"

"But did you _have _to come away with all that murdering bullshit?", she argued, "Why did you come away with all that crazy shit about killing a Mobian? _Why_?"

"Well", Sonic admitted, feeling uncomfortable, "If I can be perfectly honest, I _did_ kill hundreds of lives through a nuclear accident"

Fiona stared at him.

"No joke?", she asked.

"No joke", Sonic confirmed, "One hundred per cent true", a thought came to mind, "Didn't you see it in the news?"

"I don't watch the news"

"Not even through gossiping Mobians?"

"I don't socialise much with others", she admitted, "The gang only care about stuff like what's inside their sandwiches – they don't mix with others outside our mutual friends"

Sonic couldn't help but smirk at this; it was so true. Then, he continued.

"It was an accident", he remarked, "See, Dr. Eggman tricked me into releasing nuclear missiles into a nearby town, and it…", Sonic swallowed nervously, surprised to find tears in his eyes, "… it killed Mobians through the explosion…", he ran his fingers through his quills, "I-I lost the respect of my friends, my loved ones. One of my closest friends landed me in court and i-it resulted in me being released with a new identity and a new life because the court felt sorry for me, or something…"

Sonic glanced at Fiona. Fiona was staring at him with interest.

"… so even though I've saved their asses hundreds of times in the past, they forced me to make up a new identity and watched my every move, and I…", Sonic sighed, "I just felt pissed off. _Betrayed, _even. For years, I've been saving others and thinking of others' well-being, and after one accident, everybody treats me like scum. I _know_ I deserved it, but everyone makes a false once in a while, right?"

An eerie silence followed.

"… Right?", Fiona coaxed him to continue.

"I couldn't run, I couldn't contact my closest friends, I couldn't even shop without the cops knowing", he explained further, "I felt isolated from everyone else, like nobody cared or understood how this all affected me"

Fiona continued to stare at him, her face streaked with tear stains.

"So I thought, 'Whatever! Who cares about everyone else?', a-and I dyed my quills and developed a new persona", Sonic continued, "I thought since I was seen as the ultimate criminal of all time, I may as well protect my new title", he shook his head, "I thought that changing my persona and taking my anger out on everyone else would make things better…", he peered at her, tears gradually strolling down his face, "… pretty stupid, huh?"

A long pause followed before Fiona croaked, "No, not at all"

"So don't sit there and say that I don't _understand _how it feels to feel isolated from everyone else and to feel betrayed and treated like crap", he snapped, "That's why I tried to explain to you about this earlier, but you wouldn't listen because you were upset. Like you said, sometimes you have to be considerate about how others feel – _they_ may have been through tough times, too. Just remember, I've been through the same ordeal as you, so I _know_ where you're coming from about all of this"

Sonic breathed out and slumped against the wall.

"So", Fiona piped up, "Your secret's out. What happens now?"

"What else?" he remarked, "I'll have to keep myself hidden, won't I?"

"Not really", Fiona explained, "Just keep a low profile and not act like an arrogant ass in public"

Sonic chuckled despite his emotional state. And then he remembered.

"I wanna get my own back on Jeffrey St. Croix", Sonic stated darkly, "He needs to be taught a lesson after what he did to the both of us"

"Oh yeah", Fiona whispered, "About that… thank you"

"Sure", Sonic whispered back, smiling.

"No, really", Fiona commented, "I appreciate what you did"

"Anytime", Sonic reassured her. Fiona smirked.

"Right, so Jeffrey St. Croix is on our list", Fiona confirmed, "I know others that we could persuade to join our team so we could kick their asses no problem!"

"Sweet!", Sonic grinned, regaining his confidence. Fiona paused delicately and moved towards him.

"And…", she paused, "I'm sorry I lost my temper earlier on… I… I was just angry, y'know? I'm…", she sighed, "I'm glad you told me... a-and I'm sorry for everything you've been through recently"

"So am I", Sonic smiled. Fiona shrugged.

"Hey", she smirked, "We psychos have gotta look out for one another, right?"

"Too true!", and before Sonic could think, he found himself leaning forward and pecking Fiona on her cheek. Both Mobians stared at one another and paused to register what had happened. Sonic then found himself reaching forward once more and shyly kissing Fiona on her lips. Before they could control themselves, both Sonic and Fiona began to passionately kiss one another. After a while, Fiona pulled away.

"Wait!", she protested, "Didn't you have some fan girl who was crazy in love with you… like a pink hedgehog or something?"

"She admired Sonic the Hedgehog", Sonic pointed out with a cocky grin, "Not _Scourge_ the Hedgehog!"

"Right", Fiona grinned, "Gotcha, Scourge", and was silenced with another kiss.


	11. Disagreements

**Enjoy guys!**

**~ Xoxomtmodnarxoxo**

**A/N: *A Reference to the video game 'Sonic Colors' - I couldn't resist! XD**

* * *

><p>"I'm gonna have to be honest here", Knuckles commented as he peered into the clear blue skies surrounding the group of friends, "It's been really quiet ever since Eggman stole the Chaos Emerald from Tails… <em>too <em>quiet if you ask me"

_Nobody freakin' asked you to state the obvious, you moron!_, Tails found himself thinking, though he didn't dare say it out loud. Instead, Tails remained silent and turned his back on the echidna. He didn't mean what he thought; Tails liked Knuckles, really, it was just that he was still caught up with the damage Dr. Eggman caused in his workshop. It wasn't just some base where he was able to show off his mechanical skills, the base was also his _home_ that provided the kitsune with memories, warmth and protection during hard times. And now that they were all gone…

Tails didn't want to think about it. Instead, he attempted to swallow the lump caught in his throat and focus on the glorious sunshine the summer season had to offer as the group of friends lounged on deckchairs, with the exception of Knuckles whom sat in a rigid position; ready to spring into action when necessary. Tails mused over the fact that if Knuckles hadn't mentioned Dr. Eggman, the occasion may have been considered an enjoyable one since the devastation.

_Trust Knuckles to ruin the moment, _Tails thought to himself. Meanwhile, Amy and Cream pondered over Knuckles's statement, and exchanged knowing glances.

"What", Cream remarked, "Are you saying he'll attack us any day now?"

"I'm not saying I can see into the future, like", Knuckles commented as he tilted his head towards the sunshine, "But you know what Dr. Eggman is like – one minute it's quiet, the next he's trying to blow us up into pieces"

Amy flinched.

"Oh", Knuckles mumbled, instantly regretting his comment, "Sorry"

"Don't mention it", Amy muttered and stretched out on the deckchair, turning away from him. This infuriated Knuckles.

"I didn't mean it _that _way", he retorted, "I'm just making a point… see-"

"Like I was saying", Amy stated firmly as she shot him an annoyed look, "Don't mention it"

Knuckles exhaled slowly and put his hands up in mock-defense. Honestly, this was why he barely interacted with Amy at all.

"All I was trying to say-", he tried to continue.

"I think you've said enough", Cream interrupted him. This surprised Knuckles; Cream, who could barely say 'boo' to a goose, was practically telling him to shut up. He didn't know whether to feel insulted or show more respect to the young rabbit. Cream gave him a side-way glance and turned to Amy.

"How did it go, by the way?", Cream asked gently as she could. Knuckles frowned; what was she _on _about?

"Oh", Amy mumbled and cleared her throat, "It was…", she then shook her head, "I'm not going to lie; it was awful. You should see the town now… nothing but rubble. No buildings, no plant life, no Mobians: a complete ghost town… In fact, I couldn't even get _into_ the town because the high levels of radiation. Instead I was shunted into a military base hundreds of miles away from my cousin's place. The military refused to let me travel any further as it turned out my cousin's house was situated in the middle of it all; something about an epicentre they said"

"Did they find anything?", Cream asked. Amy shook her head, an impassive expression forming on her face. Knuckles felt like slapping his forehead; argh, he was such a _douchebag_ forgetting that Amy had travelled to the destroyed town to see if she could collect any items that were previously owned by her poorly cousin. He wasn't intentionally rubbing it in her face; he genuinely forgot.

"There's nothing there", Amy explained, "And even then the military won't let anyone get through either because it's so dangerous. I thought I had a chance since I was her next of kin... I asked them when they would consider it to be safe to explore the town, but they said I'd be lucky if I would be able to get past them within the next twenty-five years due to the severity of the radiation… it's just all quarantined…"

The rest of the group gave her sympathetic looks. This had proven too much for Amy. She began to break out in tiny sobs, covering her face with her hands.

"And now I have nothing to remember my cousin by except my memories and photos of us from when we were younger", she sniffled, "It's just not the same…"

Cream put her arm round her best friend.

"I can only imagine what you must be going through", Cream soothed. Amy knew Cream meant well and patted her arm gratefully.

"At least you still got us", Tails pointed out, it being the first time he had spoken in a while. Amy nodded as she rubbed her eyes.

"Yep, you're right!", she sniffled, "I've still got great, loving friends to get me through anything, don't I?"

"That's right!", Cream commented, "Just keep reminding yourself that, and through time things will become easier"

Amy smiled through her tears at the pre-teen rabbit.

"Since when did you become so philosophical, Cream?", Amy chuckled, choking on her sobs. Cream shrugged.

"I live to give, I guess", Cream answered. Amy smiled at this; her best friend had grown up so fast.

A brief pause followed.

"Anyway", Knuckles continued, "What I was _trying_ to say was that we should keep an extra eye out for any tell-tale signs that Dr. Eggman might be planning a serious attack against us", he sat up and folded his arms, "I'll guard the Master Emerald like I always do. Tails, you fix the X Tornado and upgrade it so that we can be fully prepared", Knuckles looked at both Cream and Amy, "Don't worry about a thing, me and Tails'll handle it"

This infuriated the entire gang. Tails was the first to protest bitterly.

"Since _when_ did you automatically yourself the leader?", Tails cried angrily. Knuckles was taken aback.

"Well…", Knuckles swallowed nervously, "I'm the oldest, so-"

"Oh, so you think a leader is defined by their age?", confronted him.

"_And _gender for that matter?", Amy snarled as she shot out of her deckchair and approached him angrily, "Are you trying to say me and Cream are incapable of taking on Dr. Eggman?"

"What?", Knuckles questioned, "No, I-"

"In case you haven't noticed, I have a Piko Piko hammer, and Cream can kick some serious ass whenever she needs to – she has ears that she uses to fly, dipshit!", Amy stated, "Oh, and also, I can be a bitch when provoked and the way I'm feeling just now… Eggman wouldn't stand a chance against me!"

"So you think that just because you're a male and you wear boxing gloves, that makes you superior to girls?", Cream argued. To Knuckles, that was the last straw.

"No, I don't!", Knuckles, "You're not letting me explain my point – I'm just trying to devise a plan so that we're ready in case Dr. Eggman _does _decide to attack us. If you and Cream want to get involved, all you have to do is say so… and besides, you guys aren't exactly coming up with any ideas yourselves, y'know!", he turned to Tails, "And I don't know what's gotten into _you_, Tails! I thought you'd be all for getting revenge on Dr. Eggman after he… y'know-"

"Destroyed my home?", Tails finished his sentence, "You see, this is what I don't _get _about you, Knuckles; you just think that even though I now have no home, no workshop, and that my X Tornado is completely destroyed that I could just… easily forget about it and simply move on? When are you going to be practical with life, Knuckles? I can't just shrug at the damage he made in my workshop and carry on, it just doesn't work that way! It might take me weeks – _months_ even before I could get over the damage this has caused me"

"But if we _don't_ do anything, we'll be sitting ducks, Tails!", Knuckles argued.

"Yeah, I agree", Tails remarked, "It's kinda strange that we haven't heard anything from Dr. Eggman since he stole the Chaos Emerald, but there's also another saying: no news is good news… when the time comes, you leave Baldy McNosehair* to me. He might have ruined my workshop, but I'll always have a plan up my sleeve-"

"Stop it!", Cream suddenly screeched, silencing everybody. She exhaled slowly, "Just… stop it", she whispered. Tails and Knuckles shot fierce looks at one another but remained silent. Amy sat back down on her deckchair, running her fingers through her quills. Cream took her time as she looked at Amy, then focussed on Knuckles and Tails.

"What's happened to us?", she questioned calmly, "We used to be the best of friends and we always managed to work things out when we were in trouble… but ever since Sonic disappeared, all we've done is bicker and argue amongst each other…", she paused delicately, "… If you ask me, turning against Sonic has brought out the worst in us"

"Don't bring Sonic into this", Knuckles muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"Well, why not?", Cream demanded, "We can't keep going on like this – sooner or later we have to talk about him. I mean, it's obvious it's affected us in different ways"

"Cream is right", Tails added in, "It's karma"

"Do I need to remind you he _killed_ hundreds of Mobians?", Knuckles snapped, "Even somebody you loved, Amy!"

"I think it's safe to say now that it was an accident!", Tails bickered.

"Well if it was an 'accident', why couldn't you say in the first place?", the echidna pointed out.

"Because we were angry!", Amy shouted.

"And now you're not, so you're just going to forgive and forget?", Knuckles threw back in her face, "He killed _your_ cousin, Amy! He killed _your_ family! Who's more important to you? Sonic… or family?"

"That isn't _fair_!", Amy screamed, shoving Knuckles as hard as she could. Knuckles paused to register what had happened before launching towards Amy and restrained her into a headlock. Amy retaliated by scratching his arms as fiercely as she could, wriggling desperately to get away from him. Tails and Cream attempted to intervene; Tails locked his arms around Knuckles's torso and attempted to pull him off of Amy, Cream tried to unwind Knuckles's arms around Amy's head.

"_Get off me_!", Amy screamed.

"If you _ever_ hit me again, so help me God, I'm gonna punch some sense into you!", Knuckles threatened her.

"Stop acting like you fucking own us, Knuckles!", Tails shouted, "Let her go!"

"You're only making it worse!", Cream argued. Knuckles suddenly released Amy from the headlock in disgust and inspected the scratches on his arms.

"You're lucky I went easy on you", he grumbled. Amy scoffed as she regained her breath. Knuckles ignored her fragile state and continued.

"I don't know why you're all taking Sonic's side", he retorted, "He's been nothing but trouble, anyway"

"Because I _love _him!", she stated firmly, tears pouring down her cheeks. Knuckles snorted on her behalf.

"Yeah", he commented, "And looked where it got you!"

"Well, Sonic had _nothing_ to do with Dr. Eggman stealing the Chaos Emerald or destroying my workshop!", Tails pointed out, "Now you look me in the eye and tell me how we could blame Sonic for that!"

"He's a criminal!"

"He's _innocent_!", Amy screeched, "The only reason why we went against him was because we were angry with him _and _we were misled… all we needed was time to actually sit down and take into account what had happened. Now that all of our anger over Sonic's stupidity that day has gone, it's clearly obvious that we made a big mistake", Amy exhaled slowly, tears forming in her eyes, "I feel like such a fool"

"I agree", Tails debated, "I was mad that Sonic was stupid enough to let Eggman fool him, but let's be honest, here; this is Dr. Eggman we're talking about. He's most likely to deceive us. It's only Mobian to make a mistake once in a while; even _I've _been deceived by him", Tails looked Knuckles straight in the eye, "In fact, I remember _you_ being fooled by Eggman before, am I right?"

"Watch it, fox", Knuckles warned as he felt his cheeks flush.

"You know what I think?", Tails pointed out, "I think you'd rather have Sonic out of the way because, let's face it, you've never really liked him, have you? I think you feel threatened the fact that Sonic gains much more respect than you've ever received as a Guardian of the Master Emerald, even _more_ so knowing that Sonic is younger than you, too. So, since he's been gone, you thought it would be a great opportunity to take over as the leader of the gang and do things _your_ way and made sure everyone agreed to what _you_ had to say, just to earn more respect…", Tails chuckled slightly, "It's kind of childish, really, trying to banish someone simply because you don't like them because of their popularity"

Amy and Cream gawped at Tails, and slowly turned to study Knuckles's reaction. Knuckles's muzzle had turned an interesting shade of dark pink, with what they assumed was a mixture of anger and embarrassment, and his arms trembled uncontrollably, fists clenched. For one terrifying second, Amy and Cream feared that Knuckles would _kill_ Tails right in front of them. Cream clung to Amy for comfort, whilst Amy found her heart rate increasing as the tension grew, glancing back and forth at the two Mobians. However, Tails remained calm and collected with a nonchalant expression on his face and his arms folded across his torso.

"Go on", Tails encouraged him, "Try me"

Knuckles remained on the spot for a brief moment, before exhaling heavily.

"Right, fine", Knuckles declared, "Take Sonic's side, by all means. You can all stew your own mince", and with that, Knuckles marched away from the trio. Tails waited a few minutes before breathing out and ran one hand through his bangs. A deadly silence followed.

"Is it my imagination", Cream piped up, "Or did we just win an argument against _Knuckles_?"

Tails chuckled and put his arm around Cream.

"Scary but true", he declared, "Remember this day, guys! Today, we triumphed!"

"So…", Amy piped up, "Now what do we do?"

Tails sighed.

"I don't know", he admitted, "Are you having second thoughts about Sonic?"

"I…", Amy paused briefly, "… I don't know", she peered at Tails, "If I did, does that make me a bad person?"

"Well", Tails hesitated, "It's gonna be difficult to explain to the court that you've changed your mind about pressing charges against Sonic – it might lead to investigations, y'know"

"Ah", Amy mumbled, "I forgot about that"

"Well… If it's what you want", Cream supported her, "But I'd give it some more time before making any decisions"

"What about you, Tails?", Amy questioned, "What are you going to do with the workshop and the X Tornado?"

"It'll take some time but I'll get there in the end", Tails commented, "After all, since things are quiet I can fix the X Tornado without being disturbed"

"Aren't you worried about Dr. Eggman attacking us without warning?", Amy questioned. Tails shrugged.

"Well, obviously", he commented, "Aren't we all?"

"So…", Cream hesitated, "What would you do if-"

"Let's not think about that", Tails interrupted her, "The important thing is we've got to stay positive. I mean, if I work around the clock repairing the X Tornado, it'll be fixed within two, three days max. _Then _I'll be ready to fight back! And let's be practical here; what are the odds that Eggman will launch an attack during that time?"


	12. Update 2014: Apologies

**Dear Readers,**

**No, your eyes are not deceiving you – this is xoxomtmodnarxoxo writing to you personally after a very long time since my last updates for 'The Memoirs of Amy Rose' and 'Through The Looking Glass'.**

**Foremost, I would like to apologise for my temporary leave of absence from . I assure you I did not do this for public appeal or to receive more reviews from readers, actually entirely the opposite. **

**My first reason for discontinuing my writing was due to the fact that my workload at university practically doubled when I entered 3****rd**** year. It was such a stressful year: assignment after assignment after assignment and on top of those, exams! Now that I've very nearly completed my 4****th**** (Honours) year, circumstances have not changed at all – I am still very preoccupied in my studies and dissertation work, and by the time I sit down at 11pm to rest and write… I fall asleep! Fellow undergraduates, you would understand my position, but for those who are not undergraduates, you have to be very committed to your studies by the time you enter 3****rd****/4****th**** year. So, my apologies for that.**

**My second reason was due to personal circumstances around my family life during the past year. I'm sure most of my readers may recall that in 2011-2012, one of my family members fell ill which delayed my writing on . Unfortunately they are still very ill, however it was actually my father who recently fell ill with bowel cancer last year. It was a very stressful and emotional time for all of us, which ultimately led to me attending counselling sessions to overcome the emotional burden associated with his treatment, which in turn discouraged me from writing unless I was forced (e.g. coursework/dissertation). The good news is he is now on remission (100% no cancer) which we are all very grateful for. So again, my apologies for recent events.**

**However, I have good news. Since life is only just returning to normal for myself, I am now planning to return to in MAY/JUNE 2014 assuming I am graduating in July 2014. I have realised I have neglected my writing for far too long, and I am eager to continue my writing. **

**In the meantime, I'd like to thank you all for your patience, and to keep an eye out for any updates in 'Through The Looking Glass' and 'The Memoirs of Amy Rose' come Summer 2014.**

**Kindest regards,**

**xoxomtmodnarxoxo**


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